


The Call of Magic

by theoddkid



Series: Ninjago Engelsfors [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, But don't worry there are happy moments too, Different POV's, More characters appear but those are the main ones, Multi, Past Kai/Skylor, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, TW - some alcohol consumption/mentions, TW - some strong language, This is essentially a crossover with the Engelsfors trilogy, Tw - Bullying, Witches and Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 25,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29928969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theoddkid/pseuds/theoddkid
Summary: Kai, Nya, Cole, Jay, Zane and Lloyd are six seemingly normal teenagers living in a small town at the edge of the forest. They go to school, they hang out with friends, they deal with crushes, and they're just trying to get by. Then one night, the moon turns blood red and the six of them are called into the woods. There they learn of ancient secrets, of magic, and a great destiny that might just bring about their end. And if they fail? The world may very well end with them.A crossover between Ninjago and the Engelsfors trilogy by Mats Strandberg and Sara Bergmark Elfgren.
Relationships: Cole & Lloyd Garmadon & Kai & Nya & Jay Walker & Zane, Cole/Kai (Ninjago), Kai & Nya (Ninjago), Nya/Jay Walker, P.I.X.A.L./Zane (Ninjago)
Series: Ninjago Engelsfors [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2201076
Comments: 24
Kudos: 19





	1. Nya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm a bit nervous as this is my first time writing anything for the Ninjago fandom. But I recently rewatched the entire show in preparation for season 14, and I just felt inspired to write something! I thought It'd be something small, a fluffy one-shot perhaps. But then I came up with this, and strap yourselves in, because I think it's going to be a long one. Esentially, this is a crossover between Ninjago and the Engelsfors trilogy (The Circle, Fire, and The Key) by swedish authors Mats Strandberg and Sara Bergmark Elfgren. It is a modern fantasy series about witches, magic and demons, and I just thought I might be able to make the elements fit in with the ninjago characters. You don't need to know anything about the Engelsforst trilogy, all you need to know will be explained in the story (such as lore and magic system, etc.), but I wanted you to know what inspired me to write this. The story will be told in different POV's (and in 3rd person), those of the six ninja. Each chapter will be told from a different person's POV. The three ships listed will be included, but I'd like to point out that Pixane is the only relationship which is already established at the start of the story, the others will develop over time. And well, it might take quite a long time before they do happen. But eventually they will, which is why they are already listed. Just letting you guys know what is to come. Also, I will be updating this story as I write it, so I apologize for any inconsistencies in updating. I'll write when I have the time and motivation. And since I'm also studying my third year at uni atm, I might not always have much time. Still, I'm thriving to get at least two chapters out every week. If I write a lot, I might even come with daily updates. But like I said, the schedule for my updates might shift as I get more or less busy with schoolwork. With that said, I really hope you will enjoy this work, and more to come soon! If you have any questions or want to get in touch, I'd prefer it if you contacted me using my twitter: @EFagerhag

The forest was eerily silent around her as Nya made her way through the darkness of the night. The air was damp and the ground muddy. She would know, she wasn’t wearing any shoes. Though her tired mind could not understand why she would be walking through the forest in her bare feet.

Nya couldn’t remember what she was doing there, just that there was somewhere she needed to be. She felt like something, or someone, was calling for her. As she kept making her way forward along the woodland path she pushed aside greenery. She noted that her breath was fogging from the cold, and yet she could not feel it despite only wearing her pajamas. Why wasn’t the cold bothering her? 

Feeling like she needed to ground herself, Nya decided to look up, trying to spot the familiar constellations scattered across the night sky. She was lucky, for she could still make out the stars in between the treetops, and the sky was clear. No sign of any clouds as far as the eye could see. Soon, her eyes drifted away from the stars and landed on the moon. A moon that was not the same moon she had looked up at every other night of her life. It was a blood red moon. 

Nya shivered, but she had no doubt that it had nothing to do with the cold, the cold that she still could not feel. The moon was not supposed to be red. She soon tore her gaze away from the peculiar sight when she felt a gaze burning into her neck. She turned around and froze in her tracks. Further down the trail stood a wolf. 

Nya tried to keep her breathing calm, hoping not to startle the animal. What were you supposed to do when you encountered a wolf in the wild? Scare it away? Back away slowly and hope for the best? Play dead? She had no idea, but she didn’t get much more of a chance to consider her options as the wolf opened its mouth and let out its typical howl… 

Only, it wasn’t a howl that came out of it's gaping mouth, it was a beeping sound. 

_Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep._

Nya shot up in bed, instantly awake. Her breathing was laboured, still shaken up by the dream. It hadn’t been so much scary as it was just strange. She took a few seconds to gather her bearings, then sighed and looked out the window. The moon outside was still visible in the early morning, and it was white, just as usual. Not a single trace of red in there. Nya rolled her eyes at herself as she realized that a part of her had expected the dream-moon to still be there. 

Now that she knew that it had just been a dream and nothing else, she begrudgingly made her way out of bed, grabbed some clothes from the pile of clean but yet unfolded clothes from her armchair, and headed for the bathroom. She got herself ready, quickly going through her usual routine, and then left clad in jeans and a striped sweater. 

As Nya headed for the kitchen she could hear another alarm clock go off. It came from the room opposite her bedroom, the one belonging to her older brother. She had learned many years ago that Kai liked to take his sweet time in the bathroom in the mornings, so unless she wanted to stress every morning, it was just easier to get up and get ready before he woke. 

She started making breakfast for three, knowing Kai would just skip it in favour of getting more time to get ready if she didn’t fix something for him. This was never a problem on weekends, but on school days he just tended to neglect feeding himself in the mornings. The third and final portion was for Mrs. Grumbmiller, Kai and Nya’s adoptive mother. 

Mrs. Grumbmiller was not mean by any means, nor was she cruel. But no matter how long they contemplated it, neither Kai or Nya could figure out why she had taken the two of them in after their parents died in a car crash. She made sure they got what they needed, but apart from that she didn’t care much for them. She was also gone a lot, working two jobs at the same time to make ends meet. This made her tired, which in turn made her grumpy. The least Nya could do was fry up some eggs for her every other morning. 

As she cracked the first egg into the pan she heard the shower turn on. Looking up at the clock, Nya sighed. Kai was late getting in the shower, which meant she had to make sure he could eat his breakfast on the way to school so that they wouldn't be late. Sandwiches it was. 

Once she was done, Nya knocked on Mrs. Grumbmiller’s door. No response, which meant she was still asleep and didn’t start her shift until after lunch. Nya decided to leave her breakfast tray at the counter in the kitchen. She then sat down at the dinner table, ate her own breakfast and waited for Kai to finish. She kept glancing at the clock and frowning, Kai really was later than usual. She hoped he was okay. 

Just as Nya was contemplating leaving her brother behind, the door to the bathroom flew open. The force was a bit much and Nya really hoped Kai hadn’t woken Mrs. Grumbmiller. Kai strode out and smiled sheepishly at Nya, who frowned in return. 

“You’re late, I was just about to leave you behind.” She said with a deadpan expression. 

Kai gave her his usual lopsided smirk as he shrugged. “Sorry sis, almost slept through my alarm. I had the weirdest dream.” He explained. 

Nya thought back to her own dream, then just as quickly let it go. “Oh yeah? About what?” She asked while she and her brother started making their way to the door. They needed to leave now if they wanted to make it to school in time. She silently applauded herself for only making Kai sandwiches for breakfast, since he now had to eat on the way. 

Nya watched Kai contemplate his answer while putting on his shoes. Then he looked up at her and frowned. “You know, now that you ask, I really can’t remember. Guess it wasn't that important.” He said. 

Nya nodded in understanding and the two headed out. Kai immediately started digging through his bag for the breakfast Nya had put in there, then let out a delighted squeal as he found out. “Egg and sausage sandwiches? Did I mention you’re the best sister I have?” He said with a smirk on his face. 

Nya rolled her eyes, and tried her best to hide the fondness she felt at the compliment. “I’m your only sister, moron. And if your no-at-all-important dream makes me late for class, I will put poison in your sandwich next time you’re late.” She threatened. Recognizing the banter, Kai only laughed and continued to enjoy his sandwich. 

“What’s your first class anyway?” Kai asked her in between bites. 

“Math.” Nya answered, matter-of-factly. 

Kai swallowed and raised an eyebrow in question. “Then why are you worried? Ronin teaches that class, and he is literally the most chill teacher we have. He wouldn’t have cared if you walked in five minutes before class ended with a ‘fuck school’ t-shirt on. If he wasn’t such a good-for nothing, he would be everyone’s favourite teacher.” He said. 

Nya chuckled at her brother. “Oh, come on. He’s not that bad. And plenty of people like him. Sure, he doesn’t really care about anything, but he’s not a creep. Besides, even if he doesn’t always show it, he does know what he is doing.” She said. 

“Are you defending him?” Kai asked. “Didn’t you complain about him just two days ago?” 

Nya shrugged. “He gave me a C- on the last math test, even though I clearly deserved better. He wrote I was ‘too ambitious’. How can being ‘too ambitious’ make you get a lower grade?” She asked in annoyance. 

Kai was about to answer, but Nya didn’t let him, not wanting to get into the same discussion they’d had two days ago. “Don’t answer that.” She said. Kai obeyed. “What I meant when I was defending him earlier is that when he isn’t being a carefree prick, professor Ronin is actually a pretty good listener. He’s easy to vent to when you’re frustrated.” Nya explained. 

Again, Kai shrugged. “Whatever you say, sis.” He answered, knowing full well Nya sometimes needed to vent out her frustrations. Normally she went to Kai for that, but every once in a while she wanted an outsider’s perspective. Ronin had happened to be around her when she was in a mood, and that was how she learned he was a surprisingly good listener. 

The two siblings reached the school just as the bell rang. Kai pulled Nya into a quick one-armed hug before rushing off to his own classes. Nya smiled and walked over to her own. She had always loved her brother’s casual affection, he wasn’t nearly as macho as many others around them seemed to think. 

Still smiling, Nya grabbed her things and entered the classroom a minute late. Just as Kai had said, her math teacher Ronin didn’t care. In fact, he didn't even seem to notice. Nya took her seat and went about her day as she usually would from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it, chapter 1. It's just a start, but I still hope you guys liked it and are excited for more. I for one am excited to keep writing this. Kudos and comments are deeply appreciated, and they help keep me motivated so that I might get this thing out to you faster. ^^ Anyway, thank you so so much for reading, and I'll be back soon. I'll try to have the next one up by tomorrow, as I don't have all that muc to do then (But no promises). Again, thank you for reading, and see you next chapter.


	2. Cole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I honestly wasn't expecting to update again so soon, but here we are! I had some time and wrote this up, hopefully you'll like it. The first few chapters might be a bit short and a bit slow, but things should start picking up in four or five chapters I hope. I just wanted to give each of the main characters in this fic a small introduction, so that you get their situation and stuff before we go into the proper story. Also, I apologize for any possible mistakes with the writing and stuff. I'm not a native english speaker, but I'm trying my best. I also don't have a beta, so sorry if I miss any mistakes. Either way, please enjoy this chapter! If you have any questions or want to contact me, please use my twitter to do so: @EFagerhag

Walking downstairs to find the house completely empty should be something Cole was used to by now, but he still found himself feeling slightly disappointed. Holding onto the last bit of hope that they could have breakfast as a family again, just like they used to, Cole decided to check his father’s bedroom. It was empty. What a shocker. Cole sighed and made his way over to the kitchen to start making his breakfast. All by himself.

Cole rubbed the back of his head as he walked through the dining room, then the living room, stopping to look up the stairs. The entire second floor was basically his now, ever since his father had moved out of his old bedroom, the one he had shared with his wife. Cole sighed and pushed the door to the kitchen opened, despite the light colours, and the order in the room, it felt off. Almost cold. Cole had always liked their kitchen, not as much as he liked the food that was made in it, but still. He had loved to hang out with his parents in there, helping them out and joking around. But that was all in the past now. 

His family had always been super close, and Cole adored both of his parents. And then, almost four years ago now, Cole’s mother Lily got sick and everything changed. The next nine months were really difficult for the Brookstone family as Lily progressively got worse and worse. And then one day, she was gone. Cole’s father Lou had not been the same since. He became closed off, almost cold. He started spending more and more time at work, leaving Cole to take care of himself most of the time. 

Figuring he should at least make sure nothing had happened to his father, Cole decided to give him a call. 

“Hello?” He heard his father’s tired sounding voice on the other end of the line. 

Cole sighed. “Hey, dad. Just wanted to check where you were. Is everything okay? You aren't home.” He said. 

Cole heard some rustling on the other end, followed by his father’s answer. “Yeah, sorry. I stayed late at the studio, and decided to just stay the night since I’ll have a lot to do today as well. Don’t worry, I’ll come home tonight, though I might be a bit late. You don’t mind fixing dinner, do you? I’ll reheat it when I get back.” He said. 

“Yeah, sure. See you tonight.” Cole answered, hoping his father wouldn’t hear the disappointment in his voice. It soon became evident he hadn’t as he simply answered, “Great,” and ended the call. 

This behaviour had been going on for three years now. It started after Lily passed, and then got worse as time went on. Cole knew it was his father’s way of grieving his wife, and he wanted to respect that. But it didn’t change the fact that, in a way, Cole felt like he lost two parents rather than one. 

At least Cole knew he was safe at the studio. Dancing and writing music had been his father’s sole saviour in all of this. Cole knew how much his work meant to him, which was why he had helped his father install a sofa-bed in his office over at the studio two years ago when he started spending the night over there. If it helped his father, what did it matter that Cole got lonelier. 

Then there was the whole issue with Cole’s coming out. In an attempt to make his father focus on his son again, Cole had decided to come out as gay to him. And despite Lou’s constant reassurance that it didn’t change anything, that he still loved him just the same, Cole couldn’t help but feel like his father started spending even less time at home after that. But maybe that was just Cole being paranoid. 

Sighing at the thought, Cole finished the last of his breakfast and cleaned the dishes. He then quickly checked out the fridge, making sure he had everything for dinner and wouldn’t have to stop for groceries on the way back from school. When he found everything he was looking for he closed the fridge, grabbed his stuff and headed out, leaving the empty house behind for the day. 

On the way to school, Cole made his weekly detour, the one he took every monday to start off his week. He walked into the cemetery and quickly found his mother’s grave. He frowned as he saw a bird had pooped on it, partially covering the Y in Lily, and that the flowers he left had wilted. Apart from that though, it looked just like it had last week. Cole quickly cleaned it off and threw away the old flowers, restoring the tombstone to how it was meant to look. 

He told his mother about the last week, giving her an update on everything that had happened. He also told her about his plans for the week, and then, for whatever reason, about the strange dream he’d had. He wouldn’t normally talk about dreams, at least he never had before. But something about it stuck with him. He couldn’t quite recall all of it, he just knew he’d been walking through the forest, following something. Five others were there with him, though he didn’t know who they were, as he only had been able to make out their silhouettes. It didn’t make any sense, but still, he felt like it had been important. 

Finishing up his weekly visit by placing some flowers he had picked on the way by the tomb, Cole said goodbye to his mother and headed for school. He was early, so he could have stayed longer. But looking at his mother’s tomb while not having more to say made him sad, so instead he chose to try and make it to school early. 

Once he got there, Cole noticed the usual looks, the whispers and pointing fingers. Things had calmed down considerably since he first came out publicly two years ago, but people still liked to stare, to whisper behind his back. At least they didn’t say anything to his face anymore. He suspected his bigger build and glare contributed to that, but as long as they didn’t give him a hard time about it, he could honestly care less. He would never actually try and hurt anybody, but being gay in a small town like this? It kind of helped if you looked like you could hurt others if they gave you a hard time. 

“Cole! Over here!” Cole heard the tell-tale, happy cry of Vania, his best friend. He smiled and turned to her, waving as he headed over. She was sat by a table outside the chemistry classrooms with Plundar, Fungus and Korgran, her other friends. 

Cole and Vania had been friends ever since they started high school. She was the only one in this school Cole felt fully comfortable around. Don’t get him wrong, he was a nice guy, and plenty of people liked him and talked to him on a daily basis. But out of all of them, the only one he would really call a friend was Vania. Plundar, Fungus and Korgran were Vania’s friends, and by extension Cole’s. However, they would hang out in school, and that was it. They had never been super close. The three of them were kind of outcasts that Vania had practically adopted a year ago, despite being the youngest of the bunch. Still, they were nice enough, so Cole enjoyed their company. 

“Hey Vania, how was your weekend?” Cole asked as he joined them at the table. Once you got the Vania talking, the girl could go on forever. Sometimes, when Cole didn’t feel like talking himself, it could be a blessing. 

“Oh, it was great! I took Chompy out for a walk in the woods, and I thought we were lost, but then it turned out that…” Vania started and Cole finally started to relax. He kept listening to his friend as she told him about her adventures with her dog, and things started to feel normal. After things had changed for the worse at home, Cole was glad for the normalcy that Vania and the rest of the school offered. 

Soon enough, the bell rang, signalling that classes were starting. Cole, Vania and Plundar went one way, while Fungus and Korgran, who were a year older, went the other. Vania kept blabbering on the way, almost stumbling over a trash can at one point because she got so immersed in her own story. Cole laughed while helping her catch her balance. A few people were looking at them with raised eyebrows. Cole wasn’t sure what they were talking about, but he didn’t really care, instead directing his attention back to his friend. 

They kept the conversation going until they took their seats in the classroom. Then, class started, granting Cole a different distraction than listening to his talking friend. He got out his notebook and started paying attention to the teacher, hoping to make the most of the schoolday before he had to go home to an empty house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have Cole's introduction. This one was a bit more difficult for me to write than Nya's, but hopefully you guys think it came out okay. If you're really lucky I might get another chapter out later today, I'm feeling quite motivated! But I also have some chores to do, so I might not have time. Either way, I should see you again soon. Thank you for reading, and also thank you to everyone who decided to leave kudos or comments on my work. It really means the world to me! <3


	3. Jay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I managed to get another chapter finished, so here it is! I hope you guys will like it! This time it's Jay's turn. Igf you have any questions or want to talk, you can find me over on twitter: @EFagerhag

Jay was running through the streets in the central parts of town, dodging people, bikes, lampposts and other things in his hurry to get to school. Not only had he overslept that morning, only waking up from the sound of his father hammering away at a project outside. By then school was about to start in fifteen minutes. On top of all that, his bike just had to break down halfway to school. Normally, the ride was twenty minutes, but on foot? Yeah, he was definitely missing most of the first class.

“Sorry! Coming through!” Jay yelled as he passed a woman putting out flowers on the tables outside the town’s only proper cafe. As he reached a crossroads, the light turned red and he used the opportunity to catch his breath. 

On a nearby wall Jay saw a poster warning people about the bike thefts that had been on the rise lately. He thought back to his own bike that he had left leaning against a tree just outside of town. Hopefully it would still be there when he went home. He didn’t have enough money to buy a new one, and walking to school took forever. Sure, his father might be able to fix up an old bike lying around the junkyard, but that would take a week at least. An entire week of lost sleep in the mornings. 

Sometimes, Jay hated living at the junkyard outside of the city. It was too far away from anything interesting, it was loud, it could be smelly, their trailer was cramped, and it was just embarrassing having people make fun of him for it. But he knew his parents loved it, despite its simplicity. And he had to admit that it did have its perks, such as all the stuff people threw away despite the fact that they still worked. Jay had collected so much junk over the years, his room looked just as cluttered as the junkyard outside. 

Having gotten lost in his thoughts, Jay soon realized that he had missed the green light, and now had to wait longer. He cursed and started jogging on the spot, getting ready to start running as soon as the light changed from red to green. Soon, it happened, and he took off. 

Jay knew he was now about five minutes away, so he checked his clock. 8:36 it read. Great, he would only be around forty minutes late. Hopefully he’d be able to talk himself into only getting detention today after school, as opposed to the entire week. 

He almost ran into a man walking his dog and stopped to apologize profusely before he finally made it the last of the way to his school. No one was outside in the courtyard, which wasn’t all that surprising as they would all be in class right now. Jay ran up to the doors and started heading towards his locker. Once there, he took a minute to catch his breath as he gathered his stuff. Then he was off again. Curse the fact that the history classroom was on the other end of the building. 

When he finally got to the classroom, only fifteen minutes remained of the lesson. With as much grace as a disabled goose trying to walk across a rope, Jay stumbled into class, still panting from the run. Every person turned to look at him, and the teacher stopped mid-sentence. Jay smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. 

The teacher frowned. “I see you have finally decided to grace us with your presence, Mr. Walker. What is your excuse this time?” The middle-aged man teaching history asked. 

Jay laughed nervously. “Well, you see professor, my bike broke down on the way, and since I live so far away from the school it took a lot longer than usual for me to get here. But better late than never, right?” He asked, trying to smooth things over with his usual charming smile. The teacher did not look impressed, but at least he managed to get some chuckles from his classmates. 

“Detention after school. I don’t want to see a repeat of this behaviour. Now please, take your seat.” The teacher said. Not wanting to argue, Jay nodded and sat down at the back of the classroom. On the way there he threw a quick smile at Scott, one of his classmates and friends whom he passed. In turn, Scott only shook his head and smiled at Jay's riddiculous entry. 

With only fifteen minutes remaining, Jay found it difficult to pay attention. He tried to keep his focus, but when he didn’t understand what the teacher was describing, it proved to be rather difficult. Soon, the teacher stopped talking, but it wasn’t because the lesson was over. Without warning, the lights overhead started flickering, making everyone look up. But just as quickly as it started, it stopped. 

The teacher sighed. “I’ll have to talk to the janitor about changing the lights.” He mumbled to himself before continuing. 

However, Jay did not turn back to the teacher. Instead, he kept looking at the lamps. It wasn’t the flickering itself that had caught him off guard. It was the tingling feeling spreading from his fingertips up his arms that overcame him at the exact same moment the lights flickered. Jay frowned and looked from the lamps to his hands, and back up again. Had the lights sent out some electric shock? 

He didn’t have enough time to think about it though, as the bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson. Jay quickly let it go, seeing no reason to keep dwelling on it, and left the classroom. He quickly jogged up to Scott and the two headed over to their lockers. 

“Did your bike really break down on the way here, or was that just an excuse for oversleeping really badly?” Scott asked with a smirk on his face. 

Jay shrugged. “Little bit of both.” He answered, a wild grin plastered on his face. “My bike did break down a few minutes outside town, had to leave it by a tree in the forest. Buuuuut I did also oversleep. Woke up fifteen minutes before school started.” He said sheepishly. 

Scott scoffed in amusement and shook his head fondly. “Isn’t this the third time your bike breaks this term? Shouldn’t you get a new one?” He asked. 

Jay frowned. “Why should I? We can just fix it back at the junkyard. There’s enough spare parts there to rebuild this entire city from the ground up. Besides, a new bike is expensive.” He explained. 

Scott was about to respond when the lights started flickering again, just like in the classroom. And just like last time, Jay felt a strange tingling in his arms and fingers. Just what was going on? Scott seemed concerned as well, though from his next comment, Jay suspected that he wasn’t worried about any strange sensations in his own arms. 

“Man, maybe there is trouble with the city’s power? I hope they fix it by the time school lets out, I was gonna head down to the arcade once we’re done here.” Scott said. 

Jay forced himself to laugh, ignoring his still tingling arms. “Weren’t you there all weekend? You’re going there again?” He asked. 

Scott shrugged. “There is a tournament coming up in two weeks. I need practice.” He said matter-of-factly. 

Jay nodded, and then the flickering finally stopped, as did the tingle in his arms. Jay relaxed a smidge, but it was still strange. No one else seemed to be feeling the weird electrical tingles. Or if they were, they certainly weren’t showing it. Jay had no idea what was going on, and while he normally wasn’t one to dwell on things that worried him too much, something about this felt different. It felt like something big was coming, and he was about to find himself right in the middle of it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weird things are starting to happen... But what does it all mean? Stay tuned to find out! Well, you won't find out next time, but sooner or later ;) I should be able to have one or two chapters up tomorrow as well, so hopefully you're looking foreward to that! Thank you guys so much for reading! And also thank you if you leave kudos or comments, they mean a lot! <3


	4. Kai

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back again with another chapter. Hopefully you will enjoy it! I should have time to write up one more later today, but we'll see. Anyway, enjoy! If you have any questions or want to contact me, you can do that over on my twitter: @EFagerhag

“Ew, I can’t believe you’re eating that. Everybody knows the cooks here at the school can’t do what they were hired to do. Cook.” The green haired girl across from Kai spoke up, her brows furrowed in disgust. Her name was Tox, and it really wasn’t a shock to hear her speak up about the cafeteria food. She did it at least once a week.

Kai shrugged. “It’s not THAT bad. Besides, we’ve been over this already, Mrs. Grumbmiller paid for Nya and I to eat here in the cafeteria so that she wouldn’t have to make us lunch. If she found out we weren’t actually eating the food she pays for, we’re grounded until graduation.” He explained. This wasn’t a new conversation, but the state of the food the school served its students was bad enough to warrant having it again and again. Barely anyone ate the food, and Kai couldn’t fault them. So far, he had never gotten sick from it at least, meaning he would keep eating it to avoid his adoptive mother’s punishment. 

Today was especially bad, however. Some kind of brown goo with pieces of corn and something green in it. It looked like vomit, but at least it didn’t taste like it. Kai pushed some around on his plate, contemplating whether or not he dared eat more than half the portion. 

Neuro, who was sitting on Kai’s left, patted him on the back. “I guess we’ll just have to pray you’ll live to eat more of their disgusting lunches.” He said, earning laughs from around the table. Kai also made himself laugh, though the issue of his safety in regards to the food was not that amusing to him. 

He had found himself doing that more and more around his so-called friends lately. Forcing a smile and a laugh that is. Across from him sat Tox and Chamille, as well as Griffin, who had just joined them, still sweaty from his P.E. lesson. On Kai's left sat Neuro, and on his right sat Shade. That only left one person in their little group who had yet to arrive, and Kai would like to finish before she got there. 

It wasn’t that he disliked Skylor, who had yet to arrive, it was actually the opposite. However, ever since their break up four months ago, things had not been the same. Kai and Skylor had met at the start of high school, and after about half a year of flirting, they had decided to start going out. It had gone well at first, but ever since they started their second year of highschool, things started going south, and it wasn’t long until it ended between them. They had talked it out since then, and were now back to being friends, but things just weren’t the same, and Kai doubted they would ever be. 

This also extended to Skylor’s other friends, Kai had noticed pretty quickly. The others had all been friends since middle school, some even from elementary school. Kai was the last one to join the group, he only met Skylor and the others in high school. Before that, he mostly just hung out with his sister, Nya. And ever since his and Skylor’s break up, it had become clear that they all took Skylor’s side over his. Kai suspected the only reason they kept hanging out with him was because they knew that he didn’t have any other friends. He appreciated the effort to keep things normal, but it was starting to tire him. 

Kai soon felt someone tap his shoulder, drawing him out of his thoughts. He turned around and was startled to see Skylor there. 

“Hi. Sorry, could you scoot over so I could sit down?” She asked, smiling politely. 

Kai blushed and cleared his throat. “No, it’s fine, I was just leaving anyway. I promised Nya I would… Uh… Help her with homework.” He said as he stood up, making space for Skylor between Neuro and Shade. They all looked at Kai with knowing faces. They knew that Nya didn’t need any help, she was smart enough as it was, but at least they allowed him enough leeway not to point that out. The only one who looked genuinely disappointed to see him go was Skylor. 

“Oh…” She said. “Well, if you have to leave, I won’t stop you. But hey, you’re still coming tonight, right?” She then added, smirking at him. 

Kai blinked at her, he had completely forgotten about the party tonight. It was Shade’s birthday, so they were going to have a party. The party would happen at Chamille’s place, since she lived out by the lake and her parents were gone for the week, leaving only her and her older brother at home. 

Collecting himself, Kai smiled awkwardly and nodded. “Yeah, sure, I’ll be there. We were supposed to meet at the bus stop at six, right?” He asked, and Skylor nodded in confirmation. “Great, see you then.” Kai said before he left. 

Kai didn’t really feel like going tonight, especially since it was a monday, he’d rather just go home and sleep. But they had all been adamant about having a party on Shade’s actual birthday. However, Kai didn’t have a good enough reason to decline the invitation. He could just go there, hang out for a few hours, maybe get some drinks, and then use Nya or Mrs. Grumbmiller as an excuse to go home. 

Speaking of Nya, he should probably go find her. He had completely forgotten to tell her about the party, and she needed to know he wouldn’t be home tonight. And so, he walked over to where you deposited your lunch tray and started sorting away his dirty dishes. When he turned back to the tray though, he could have sworn his eyes were playing tricks on him. Because it looked like his napkin was floating in mid-air. 

Kai stared in disbelief, and he must have done so for a while, because he soon heard someone clearing their throat behind him. He turned around, startled, and stared at the two girls who stood in line there, clearly waiting to put their dishes away as well. He quickly excused himself and turned back to his tray. To his relief, and confusion, the napkin was no longer floating. It just lay there like it should. 

Kai took care of the rest and then started heading out, still in shock over what had just happened. Had that napkin really just floated? No, it must have been his imagination. He didn’t sleep that well last night, what with being awoken by dreams and all. Yeah, that was it, he was just tired, which made him think it looked like his napkin was floating. Nothing weird at all. 

Kai sighed and tried to let it go. The thing that really was weird was that more people than him and Nya seemed to be eating from the school lunch, as evident by the two girls leaving their trays behind him. That’s what he should focus on instead. 

With all of that out of the way, Kai ventured outside, trying to locate his little sister. He knew that as soon as it got warm enough for it, Nya would prefer to eat her lunch outside, where less people were bound to bother her. It was only early spring, but apparently Nya had deemed it warm enough, because he soon found her by one of the tables near the big oak that stood in their schoolyard. 

Kai called out to her and waved. She looked up and nodded at him as he closed the distance between them. “Hey sis, what are you up to?” He asked as he sat down. Nya’s lunch tray was discarded to the side, and she was working on something else. Kai had never understood his sister’s fascination with engineering, but he had to admit, it was impressive. 

“It’s for extra credits.” Nya answered with a shrug. Kai accepted that explanation as sufficient and just allowed her to work on. Nya had always enjoyed taking on these small extra projects, not only did it do wonders for her grades, but it also allowed her to keep herself busy without others around. The Smith siblings had never been the best at making friends, but while Kai had branched out to Skylor and her friends, Nya had chosen to keep fiddling with her small projects instead. 

After about five minutes of silently watching her, Kai noticed Nya getting annoyed by his presence. “Kai, are you just going to sit there and stare or did you actually need anything? I’m trying to finish this before my next class, which is in less than ten minutes.” She said. 

Kai smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, didn't mean to bother you. I’ll leave you to it in a minute. I just wanted to tell you that I won’t be home tonight. It’s Shade’s birthday, so the others are having a party at Chamille’s.” He explained. 

Nya frowned and sat up properly to look at him. “But it’s monday. Should you really be going to a party?” She asked. 

Kai shrugged. “I probably won’t stay there long. We’ll have dinner and might hang out by the lake for an hour or two. Don’t worry too much, okay?” He asked. 

Nya sighed. “Fine. Just be careful, okay?” She said before going back to working on her project. 

Kai nodded. “Right. I’ll be careful.” He said. 

After that, Kai lingered around his sister for another minute before he decided to leave her alone. Instead, he headed inside to his locker, grabbed his stuff and started walking over to his next class. It was still around five minutes until it started, but he figured he might as well head over there early, since he had nothing better to do. 

He would go through the motions of the day, then he would head over to the party. Maybe he’d try to bridge the gap between himself and his friends, maybe they could make things work again, have it all go back to normal. Or maybe, things would go badly, and then he’d know that it may be time to ditch them for good. Either way, he’d just have to hang in there until tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter done! I think next up will be a Zane chapter, so stay tuned for that! Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to the next! See you! Thank you so much for reading, and also for leaving kudos and comments, it means a lot! <3


	5. Zane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, second chapter of the day, here we go! This time we have a Zane chapter, get ready for some cute Pixane ;) Anyway, I hope you will enjoy it. If you have any questions or want to talk to me, you can do so over on Twitter: @EFagerhag

The library was close to empty when Zane got there. He quickly scanned the room, trying to find his study partner. A boy was standing by the counter, trying to describe the book he wanted to the librarian, meanwhile a girl was walking through one of the ailes, presumably looking for a book. Neither of them were the one Zane was looking for.

Walking deeper into the library, Zane finally spotted the familiar silver/grey ponytail. He smiled and headed over, joining his girlfriend Pixal at the table. The two of them had decided over lunch that they would stay behind and have a study date in the library after school, and Zane was very excited. Not only were they meant to go over his favourite parts of their science curriculum, but spending time with Pixal always made him happy. 

“Hello, sorry to keep you waiting.” Zane greeted as he placed a quick peck on Pixal’s cheek and sat down across from her. 

“Hello Zane. I wasn’t waiting for long, my class finished just ten minutes ago. Do you have everything with you?” Pixal said, smiling sweetly at Zane. He loved that smile, it made Pixal's green eyes sparkle, and just overall more radiant. 

“Of course I do. Let’s get started, shall we?” He said, and then they got to work. 

Zane and Pixal worked together methodically, used to each others’ thought process and methods. Both of them were quite skilled in most subjects, and science definitely wasn’t an exception. The fact that they knew each other so well helped as well. They’d been doing things like this since long before they started dating, after all. 

The two of them met five years ago, when Zane’s father, Dr. Julien, had entered a new partnership with an inventor who had just moved to town. Dr. Julien was an inventor himself, but until then he had always been freelance. It had gotten him and Zane by well enough, but their family was still a single-parent household. Zane’s mother had died in childbirth, so Dr. Julien had raised his son all by himself. And while being freelance and working from home had meant he could spend a lot of time with his son, money was sometimes tight. 

Then, five years ago, a new inventor moved to town and opened up a small industry. It wasn’t long before said inventor heard about Dr. Julien and reached out to him. They really needed the money, and Zane was not a small child anymore, so Dr. Julien had soon agreed to the proposition. 

That inventor was Cyrus Borg, and the company was Borg industries, a company that provided electronics world-wide. Pixal was Cyrus Borg’s daughter. Zane and Pixal met through their fathers’ work and quickly became friends. They had similar interests and just enjoyed spending time together. Then, a little over a year ago, the two had started dating. 

Dating Pixal was a dream come true for Zane, he loved her a lot and would do anything to make sure she stayed happy. To him, she was smart, kind, loyal, understanding and beautiful. They could talk about anything, and he knew that no matter what happened, he could always depend on her to be there for him. 

Of course, their relationship wasn’t perfect. But nothing was perfect. They bickered from time to time, sometimes they annoyed each other, and sometimes they had disagreements or secrets. But so far, they’d always managed to find their way back to one another stronger than ever. 

And even now, as they were sitting in their school’s less-than-satisfactory library, doing something as mundane as a science project, Zane found himself truly happy. And it was all thanks to Pixal. 

A while into the project, Zane stood up and looked over at his girlfriend. “I just have to use the bathroom real quick. I’ll be right back.” He said. Pixal smiled and nodded, and as Zane passed her, she grabbed his hand and lifted it, pressing a quick kiss to his knuckles. It was such a simple gesture, but it got Zane smiling all the way to the toilet. 

He took care of his business quickly, and then he went to wash his hands. But that was when things started to get weird. 

Zane looked up into the mirror and immediately startled back. Something was either wrong with the mirror, or his face was becoming twisted. On one side his cheek became hollow, while the other looked swollen. His eyebrows were askew and one side of his lips, the one near the plump cheek, was tilting downwards. Zane swallowed and touched his face, tracing the features. He quickly withdrew his hand when he realized it wasn’t just the mirror. 

As if his touch wasn’t proof enough, his eyes soon started to change right in front of him. They changed from his usual icy blue color to a swampy green colour, and then back to blue, albeit a darker shade than his normal one. 

“What is happening?” Zane asked himself, not able to believe his eyes. Was he having an allergic reaction to something? He didn’t think he had eaten or come in contact with anything weird today. They’d done a lab in chemistry earlier today, but that was hours ago, surely he couldn’t be having a reaction from anything there so long after? 

Normally, Zane considered himself to be quite good at problem solving, but what was he supposed to do in this situation? He tried to calm himself down, and then he splashed some cold water in his face, trying to focus. He bored his eyes into his own reflection, his still twisted reflection, and let out a sigh of relief as he noticed his features slowly changing back to how they normally looked. A minute later, Zane was looking at himself again. 

Zane sighed. What had just happened to his face? He went through every possible option he could think of on the spot, but could not come up with a logical solution. Part of him wanted to think that he had just imagined it, that his eyes had played tricks on him. However, the fact that he had seen it changing, twisting itself, and then righting itself, made him think it had been real. The possibility that it had been a prank crossed his mind, but he didn’t think anyone would have been able to pull that off. 

He was startled out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. “Zane?” Pixal called from the other side. “Are you okay in there? You’ve been gone for fifteen minutes… If you’re not feeling well and need to head home, all you need to do is ask.” She said. 

Zane could feel his lips turning upwards in a smile, though he was still troubled. Seeing as his face was back to normal, he decided to exit the bathroom. Once he did, he was met with Pixal’s worried face. He gave her a reassuring smile. “Thank you, but I feel fine. Shall we get back to work?” He said. 

Pixal still looked a bit concerned, but she agreed anyway. Although, Zane didn’t miss the way she kept a watchful eye out for any irregularities in his moods. Once they got back to the table, Zane decided to test Pixal by asking her about his face. “Pix, does my face look strange to you?” He asked. 

Pixal frowned and started studying his face. If anyone else had watched him so closely, Zane would have felt self-conscious. But this was Pixal, and he let her look at his face as closely as she wanted to. 

“Strange as in different from how you normally look? Or strange as in different from how others look? Because I think you have a perfectly fine face. I’d even say it’s rather handsome.” Pixal soon said, giving him a small smile. 

Zane chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. “No, no, I meant if it looks different from how I usually look. Like, is it a bit swollen? Or hollowed out? Maybe a bit lopsided?” He explained. 

Pixal frowned again, then shook her head. “No, not really. Why are you asking?” She questioned him, her concern evident in both her voice and her expression. 

Zane smiled and shook his head. He wasn’t sure if he should tell her about what happened in the bathroom, not until he knew better how to explain it. “No, it’s nothing. I just thought it looked a bit off in the bathroom earlier, but maybe it was just the lighting. Or maybe I’m getting a bit tired. Let’s finish this project so we can head home, okay?” He asked. 

Pixal nodded, and most of the concern melted away. Zane did feel a bit bad withholding information from her, but he just wasn’t sure what he would have said. Maybe it was just a one-time thing, and he wouldn’t have to worry about it. However, if it happened again, he would most likely try and tell her. Together, they might be able to figure out what was going on, because Zane alone was at a loss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just what is happening to our favourite ninjas? Stay tuned to find out (sooner or later). We're soon done with the introductory chapters, and next up is Lloyd, so hopefully you're looking forward to that. Thank you so much for checking out this chapter, and an extra thank you to those who leaves kudos or comments, they mean so much! <3


	6. Lloyd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh lord, three chapters in a day?! I only intended to start this chapter, but then I got really into it and finished the entire thing. So, here you are! With this, you've gotten a first chapter for all of the main characters! As you might hav enoticed, these first few chapters have mainly been made to give you a little introduction into their history and current situation as we start this story. Also, somethings that might not come across that well in writing, Nya and Lloyd are first years in high school atm, and the remaining ninja are second years. Also, Lloyd's full name in this story will be Lloyd Montgomery, rather than Lloyd Garmadon. Don't worry, Garmadon will apear, but not yet for a really long time. Lloyd doesn't know his father yet, so it just makes more sense for him not to be using his surname. EIther way, I hope you enjoy this chapter! If you have any questions or want to contact me, you can do that over on twitter: @EFagerhag

As he left school, Lloyd tried to keep his head down and ignore the world around him. If he ignored them, hopefully they would ignore him in return. Lloyd normally tried his best to fly under the radar when he was at school, he had no real desire to stand out or take up space. Most of the time, this wasn’t all that difficult. That being said, there were still a handful of people who liked to make his life difficult, and Lloyd wanted to avoid them if he could.

Right now, he just wanted to go home, see his mom, finish up his homework, have dinner, and then relax in front of the TV. The fact that his mom was at home also made it a lot better. She was an archaeologist and traveled a lot because of her work, there weren’t always excavations available in the area where they lived. Lloyd used to be upset with his mother growing up, since she left home a lot. Lloyd’s father was a mystery, and his mother, Misako, had been his only parent. As he grew older, Lloyd learned to accept his mother’s frequent absence, and appreciate the moments when she could be at home. 

Something else that had changed over the years was his inquiries about his estranged father. He used to ask his mother to tell him about the man, but she was always elusive. She would give him something small, but never anything specific. This left Lloyd with a very lacking picture of his own father. He had later assumed that maybe his father had hurt his mother by leaving, and that she wouldn’t want to talk about him. So, he had simply stopped asking. 

His home life, and his relationship with his mother, had improved as he grew older. Sadly, Lloyd couldn’t say the same for his other relationships. He mostly kept to himself and didn’t really have anyone he considered a proper friend. A few acquaintances, some classmates he tolerated, but nothing more meaningful than that. This hadn’t always been the case. He’d had a few friends growing up, Brad and Gene from elementary school for example. 

And then there had been Morro and Harumi. The three of them had grown close in middle school, and Lloyd would hang out with one or both of them all the time whenever his mom was out of town. On top of that, he’d had the biggest crush on Harumi throughout all of their second year of middle school. 

Lloyd had never expected his crush to go anywhere, but he hadn’t been able to fully give up hope. In an attempt to do something about it, Lloyd had told Morro, asking his friend for advice. And this was what had changed everything. Okay, maybe it hadn’t been quite as dramatic of a decision, he and Morro had been growing apart already, but it definitely was the last straw. Because what did Morro do with the knowledge Lloyd had shared? He had humiliated him by publicly telling everyone, and then he had gone even further by asking Harumi out himself. 

Lloyd, feeling betrayed, had since then mostly kept to himself. Morro and Harumi stayed away from him at first, but things grew worse once they entered highschool a few months prior. The two of them had gained a few more friends, Violet, Bansha and Killow. Neither of them were very nice, and it seemed like they had elected to make Lloyd their primary target. 

Speaking of Morro and his friends, on his way home, Lloyd had spotted them outside the cafe. Quickly, Lloyd had pulled the hood on his jacket up, ducked his head and hoped that they wouldn’t recognize him. Or maybe that he would turn invisible, that would work too. 

Sadly, he wasn’t quite so lucky this time. “Well, if it isn’t Lloyd Montgomery. What’re you up to? Heading home to mommy?” Morro asked, sounding smug. 

Lloyd sighed and kept walking, trying to ignore them and hoping they would just let him go home in peace. For a moment, he thought it had worked. That is, until he felt an arm wrap itself around his shoulder. He turned his head around, startled, and was met with Morro’s smirking face. 

“Why such a rush? Too pathetic to hang out for a while?” Morro asked, which was followed by the chuckles of his friends. 

Lloyd pushed Morro’s arm away. “Sure, whatever. Bye, Morro.” He said and started walking again. 

Morro wasn’t having it. “Oh, come on Lloyd! Don’t be such a party pooper! Here, I’ll give you my coffee, so come join us.” He said, grabbing his cup and walking over. Lloyd really should have predicted what happened next, but for some reason he had missed all the signs. 

Morro reached him, but instead of handing him his cup of coffee, he simply dumped it all over Lloyd, who jumped back in response. The coffee was iced, which meant that at the very least Morro had had the courtesy of not dumping scalding hot liquid all over him. Small reliefs. Still, Lloyd felt a familiar knot in his stomach as the others started laughing. Even Harumi, who normally tried to at least appear kind and polite, had hidden a small smile behind her hand. 

This time, Lloyd didn’t take any chances. He just turned around and started running back towards the apartment where he lived with his mom. Why wouldn’t they just leave him alone? He had tried to cut his ties with them on multiple occasions, and yet they stubbornly kept reaching out to him, only to find new ways to make his life miserable. 

Sometimes, Lloyd really wished he could just disappear for a moment, make himself invisible to the world, or at least to a choice few people in it. 

Lloyd soon got home and heard the clattering of pans in the kitchen, signalling that his mother was there. As if to confirm this, Misako called out to him the moment she heard the front door close. “Lloyd? Is that you, honey?” She asked. 

“Yeah, mom, I’m home!” Lloyd called out as he finished taking off his shoes and his jacket. 

“Lloyd?” Misako called out again, making Lloyd frown. Hadn’t she heard him? 

“Yeah, it’s me! I just got back!” Lloyd answered again, making sure she heard him this time. “By the way, do you know a good way to get coffee stains out of-” Lloyd then started, but was interrupted before he could finish. 

“Hello?! Lloyd, was that you who entered?” Misako yelled out for a third time. 

Now Lloyd was really confused. Missing his announcement the first time he could understand, but the second time as well? Soon, Misako came out to check, but she completely ignored Lloyd in the hallway, making her way straight to the entrance. 

“Hm, that’s weird, I could have sworn I heard someone enter.” Misako said before shrugging and going back to the kitchen. 

Lloyd stared at his mother in disbelief. Was she really ignoring him? What kind of cruel joke was this? 

“Mom? I’m right here you know.” He said as he followed her. However, Misako still refused to acknowledge him. She simply resumed taking care of the dirty dishes in the sink. 

“Okay, mom, this isn’t funny anymore!” Lloyd said. “Look at me!” He then exclaimed when he once again received no answer. “Mom!” 

Despite having yelled at the top of his lungs, Misako hadn’t even flinched. She acted as if she had neither seen or heard him since he got home. It was freaking Lloyd out. 

Then, things got even more confusing. Lloyd caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Or rather, he didn’t catch a glimpse of himself, despite standing right in front of it. He quickly walked up to the mirror on the wall, but it only reflected the rest of their kitchen. Lloyd was nowhere to be seen. 

Panic was starting to settle in. Lloyd needed to do something, he needed to get his mother’s attention in some way. Then his eyes landed on an empty glass on the table. Hoping he could still interact with objects around him, Lloyd walked up to the table, grabbed the glass and threw it onto the floor. Predictably, it broke apart into a hundred pieces. 

Misako twirled around, and Lloyd had never been so glad to have his mother’s undivided attention. “Lloyd?! What are you doing? And when did you get home?” She asked in confusion. 

Lloyd, who was still breathing hard and felt himself being on the verge of tears, quickly threw a glance at the mirror. He could see himself. Then he turned back to his mother, who looked very concerned. 

“Oh sweetheart, what’s wrong?” She asked, taking in his state. Lloyd knew he looked a right mess. His shirt had a huge coffee stain, he had tears in his eye and most likely he also looked terrified. 

“I… I’m fine. I just spilled coffee on myself and I’m worried I won’t be able to get the stain out.” Lloyd tried to explain, not wanting his mother to worry. He could see that it hadn’t worked, but at least Misako didn’t push. For now. Lloyd was sure that his mother would bring this incident up again with him later. But for now, she simply told him to take his shirt off, leave it there and go get changed. She would take care of it, as well as the broken glass. 

As Lloyd went to change, just like his mother told him to, he couldn’t help but worry about what had just happened. He couldn’t have imagined it all, right? And his mother surely would not play such a cruel prank on him. Something was happening, but Lloyd could not for the life of him understand what it was. But he had a feeling that whatever it was, it had only just begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry Lloyd... Things will get better. Hopefully. EIther way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I should be able to get at least another one out tomorrow, so I will see you guys then! Until then, thank you so much for reading this chapter, and an even bigger thanks if you decide to leave kudos and/or comments, they mean a lot to me! <3


	7. Kai

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with another chapter you guys! Things are about to get strange, or stranger than before, and I hope you're excited for it. I hope you will enjoy this update, and I'll try to get a second chapter out later today, but we'll see. If you have any questions or want to talk, feel free to contact me over on my twitter: @EFagerhag

Kai sighed in relief as he stepped out of the house and inhaled the chilly night air. He had expected the party to be a small gathering of just his “friends” but it turned out that a lot more people had been invited to celebrate Shade’s birthday. And while Kai did enjoy the anonymity of it all, what with there being so many people there, he had not been mentally prepared to spend the night in a room filled with dancing and sweating strangers.

If one good thing came out of tonight, it was that he wouldn’t have felt completely out of place with his friends, who were still awkward since his and Skylor’s break up. But the atmosphere and the heat inside had gotten a bit much lately, and he just needed to escape for a few minutes. It was getting late, and ideally, he’d like to go home. But he had promised himself to stay until they brought out the cake, which they had yet to do. Then he could leave without feeling bad. At least he told himself that. 

Kai sighed and walked over to the lake, looking out over the nearly black water with a shudder. He wasn’t the best swimmer, so he had never enjoyed being in the water. But he had to admit, just standing by the shore on a night like this helped take his mind off of everything. 

He didn’t have to try and be anything he wasn’t. He didn’t have to pretend to still enjoy his friends’ company, he didn’t have to pretend like Skylor didn’t still make him feel awkward whenever she entered a room. And he most certainly did not have to pretend like he felt nothing when the strangely hot guy had walked up to him earlier that night. 

Kai’s bisexuality was not something new to him, he had been aware of it for a few years now. However, he had yet to tell anyone about it. He hadn’t even told Nya, though he wouldn’t be surprised if she already knew, or at least suspected. Before he met Skylor, most of his crushes had been on guys, with the occasional girl in between. He’d never acted upon any of his feelings until Skylor, being too afraid to out himself in the process. This was one of the cons of living in a small town. It could be very judgy and prejudiced. And if a few people learned the truth, it wouldn’t be long before the entire town knew. 

Now here he was, at a party where he felt completely out of place, with people he didn’t even like, trying to come up with a reason for leaving as soon as possible. The calm of the water may help him forget for a while, may calm the wildfire of doubt burning within him for a few minutes. But that was just it, he knew it wouldn’t last. That this peace he felt was only temporary. 

“Kai? What are you doing out here?” And just like that, it was broken. 

Kai turned around and saw Skylor heading for him. He forced a smile on his face. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just wanted to get some fresh air.” He said, hoping she’d let it go. 

“Oh really? You sure it wasn’t us you were hiding from?” She asked. Of course Kai wouldn’t be able to fool her, Skylor had always been quite perceptive. And she cared, which meant she was bound to call him out on it sooner or later. 

Kai shrugged. “Things have just been a bit… off lately. In fact, things hasn’t been the same since, well, you know… our break up.” He said. 

Skylor nodded. “Yeah, I’ve noticed it too. I’m sorry if we’re making you feel bad.” She said, then paused for a minute before offering her glass to him. “You want some? Tox mixed it for me, which means it’s probably bad. But man, it tastes good.” She said. 

Kai only shook his head. “No thanks. I’m not really feeling it tonight. And I promised Nya to be careful since it’s a monday and we still have school tomorrow.” He said. Kai had been trying to stick to water and soda for the evening. In fact, the only alcohol he’d consumed that night was the welcoming drink. Skylor nodded. “Unlike you to be that responsible. But it's probably a wise decision, especially with Tox making the drinks. You can never tell how much alcohol she actually puts in them, since she’s so good at masking the flavour.” She said. 

Kai nodded solemnly, and then it turned quiet. Kai could tell that Skylor had something more to say, he just wasn’t sure what it was. 

A few minutes later, she sighed and turned to him. “This is going to sound really strange, but I miss you, you know.” She said. 

Kai raised an eyebrow. “How much of Tox’s drinks did you have? I’m right here. And we see each other at least five days a week.” He answered. 

Skylor rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. We used to be close, and now it’s like we can barely spend a minute together without it feeling like a chore. I’m not saying I want us to get back together, but I’d like it if we could at least be friends.” 

“Aren’t we friends already?” Kai asked. 

“Are we, though? Like, are we really still friends?” Skylor asked. “You’ve been avoiding me for months now, Kai. I know I haven't said anything before, but I notice. I just didn't want to pressure you into anything. I know it may be a bit strange, after us dating and all, but I think it’s worth a shot. We used to have a lot of fun together. We don’t have to hang out with the others, if you don't want to. It could just be you and me.” 

Kai sighed. “I don’t know Skylor. I'm not sure what I want right now.” He admitted, then turned back to look out over the lake. Skylor sighed but joined him. Her eyes drifted over the surface of the lake before she made one last attempt. “Well, if you make up your mind, you know where to find me.” She said. 

Kai felt like that was the end of the conversation, but for some reason, Skylor still didn’t leave his side. Soon she pointed up to the sky. “Look, the clouds are parting. There was supposed to be a full moon tonight, think we’ll see it?” She asked. 

Kai wasn’t sure what the moon had to do with anything, but he had to admit that it would be pretty to see the full moon shining over the little lake, the light reflecting on the water’s surface. It had been really cloudy all day, but it was supposed to clear up over the night. He supposed that was happening right now. 

“Wow…” Skylor exclaimed as the clouds cleared out, letting the moon and the stars shine through. “Isn’t it beautiful?” She asked. 

However, Kai was stunned for a different reason than the beauty of the moon on the water. “It’s fucking red. How is it red?” He asked, stunned by the full, red moon he saw in the sky. He had never seen anything like it before. 

Next to him, Skylor frowned. “What are you talking about? What is red?” She asked. 

Kai was taken aback by her question. How did she not see that the full moon, which not only looked bigger than usual, was also shining in a red light? “The moon!” He exclaimed. 

Skylor scoffed at that. “And you said I’ve had too much to drink. The moon isn’t red, it’s white, just as usual. How much did you drink anyway?” She asked. 

Kai was in disbelief, but he could not bring himself to tear his eyes away from the moon to look at Skylor. However, he could still answer her. “The only thing with alcohol I’ve had tonight is the welcoming drink. This is not me being drunk. How can you not see that the moon is red? What the hell are you-” he started, but then stopped. 

Something was off. Kai could feel it throughout his entire being. The wind picked up, and it sounded like a voice. A voice that was calling for him. It was the moon, the moon was beckoning him closer. Something was out there, and it needed him to come to it. 

Off to the side, Kai was vaguely aware of Skylor growing concerned, calling out to him and asking what was wrong. But it felt completely insignificant compared to that other call. And then, before he knew it, his body was moving on its own. He was walking away from Chamille’s house, away from the party, and away from Skylor. For a moment he grew frightened, because he did not think he had the strength to resist. His legs moved on their own, closer and closer to where the moon needed him to be, and he was completely helpless to stop it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The blood red moon is calling to them... Things are about to start unraveling. I hope you liked this chapter and that you're looking forward to the next one, which I'll try to finish later in the day. Stay tuned! Thank you so much for reading, and also for leaving kudos and comments! They are appreciated. <3


	8. Cole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it! Here's another chapter for y'all! I hope you guys will like it! If you have any questions or want to talk, you can reach me over on my twitter: @EFagerhag

Just like his father had said that morning, he didn’t make it back home in time for dinner. Cole was a bit disappointed but not surprised. He had made spaghetti bolognese, which actually turned out pretty okay if you asked him. While Cole had spent a lot of time in the kitchen, he had always been more of a baker than a cook. He’d only started making savory stuff after his mom passed away.

It was now nine o’clock and Cole was beginning to doubt that his father would even be home tonight. He started expecting a call any minute now, saying that he still had work he could do, so Lou would stay at the studio for one more night. 

For once, Cole was proven wrong when he heard a car pull up outside. They lived pretty secluded, being at the very edge of town. It was closer to get to the bus stop than to the nearest house. That being said, Cole knew whoever had just pulled up was coming to their house, or else he wouldn’t have heard them. 

Soon, the door opened and in came Lou. He was wearing a brown suit, suggesting he’d mostly been writing all day. His black hair was turning grey at the sides, but it was brushed to the side and styled perfectly, not a single strand out of place. At a quick glance, anyone would think Lou Brookstone had it all together. 

But Cole wasn’t anyone, and he knew better. He recognized the slight bags under his father’s eyes, and how his white shirt under the suit wasn’t perfectly ironed. Knew they were signs of his stress and his grief poking through the collected facade. 

“Cole, hello. How was your day?” Lou asked once he spotted his son. 

Cole rolled his eyes. Really, it should be ‘days’ not ‘day’. Cole hadn’t seen Lou since Saturday evening, since he left before Cole woke up on Sunday. Still, he couldn’t just ignore him now that he was home. “It was fine, we had a quiz in math today that I think went quite well. Vania wanted me to say hi, by the way.” He said. 

Lou nodded. “Good, good. I’m glad to hear your schoolwork is going well. And tell Vania she’s welcome back here whenever.” He answered. Vania had only been to Cole’s place three times, and only once when Lou was home, but she must have made a good impression on him if he was suggesting Cole bringing her back. 

“Will do.” Cole answered. 

“Great. Now, do we have anything to eat? I haven’t eaten since twelve.” Lou complained, rubbing his stomach. 

Cole nodded and led the way into the kitchen. “Yeah, I made bolognese. It actually turned out pretty okay I think.” He said. “Do you mind if I stay here while you eat?” He then added. The kitchen was the only space in this house where it still felt safe for Cole to hang out with his father. Anywhere else they grew awkward after a while. But it was still best to ask, as Lou would rather be alone sometimes. 

Luckily, today was no such day. “Go ahead. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Sorry I’ve been so busy. It’s just a lot with the preparations for the next show, you know?” Lou said. 

Cole nodded. He should have been happy about the apology, but instead he just felt his disappointment grow. There was no show to prepare for, Cole had overheard his father last week, talking on the phone to his bandmate. He had fallen off a ladder and broken his foot, so they had to cancel their next three scheduled shows. Lou just used it as an excuse to get away from the house and from Cole. 

Soon, there was a beeping sound coming from the microwave, meaning Lou’s food was all heated up. Cole walked over to the kitchen table and sat down across from his father. Lou took a bite and then frowned. Cole’s stomach sank. 

“It’s quite salty, Cole. Maybe go easy on that next time.” Lou suggested. 

Cole forced a smile on his face. “I thought it was fine. But if you say so.” He said. 

Lou nodded solemnly. “Well, if you prefer it this way I suppose there’s nothing to be done. At least now you’ll have left overs for a few days. Do you need me to buy you some finished meals to complement it? You know, the kind you can just reheat in the oven or microwave?” He asked. 

“Not really, I don’t mind cooking… But wait, won’t you be here to make dinner sometime?” Cole asked as it sank in what his dad had really said. 

Lou at least had enough common sense to look guilty. “No, I’ll be quite busy for a while now. Starting tomorrow, I’ll probably be gone for three or four days. You’ll have to take care of things here at home by yourself, but you’re so mature, surely that won’t be a problem.” He explained. 

Cole stood up, abruptly pushing his chair back with such force that it fell over and hit the floor. “No.” He said. 

“No?” Lou asked, raising an eyebrow at his son. 

“No!” Cole repeated, now sounding angry. “You don’t get to come back home for a few hours only to complain about my cooking and then tell me you’ll be leaving for days! You’re never home anymore! I do everything here, and you come back to complain and say goodbye again? I’m tired of this, dad!” He exclaimed, leaving his father stunned. 

Soon, Lou’s shock faded and turned into anger. “Don’t take that tone with me Cole! All the work I do, I do so that we can keep this house and get by! I thought you understood that!” He argued. 

Cole shook his head in exasperation. “Don’t lie to me!” He yelled. “I know you don’t need to work as much as you do! You earn more than the average person! And we still have a lot left from what mom left us! You don’t work as much as you do because we need it, you do it to cope. And I get it, I get that it comforts you to keep busy, that it distracts you, but did you ever stop to think about anyone other than yourself?!” 

“Enough!” Lou yelled, startling Cole. His father could get angry, but it was rare for it to get this bad. “I don’t want to hear it anymore, Cole!” 

The anger left him all at once, instead, Cole was left feeling sad and tired. And so, without saying another word to his father, he left the kitchen. 

Once Cole got upstairs to his room, he slammed the door and sat down on his bed. He didn’t cry, he just felt so tired. He turned to his bedside table and picked up the photo that stood there. It was a photo of him and his mom from when Cole was only six years old. Lou had just built a small playset outside in their garden and Lily had helped Cole break it in. Lou had taken the photo, and both Cole and Lily were smiling like there was nothing sad left in the world. Cole loved it. 

“Mom…” Cole whispered. And then he did start crying. “I miss you, mom.” He said, hugging the photo close to his chest. He lay down on the bed and buried his face in his pillow, still holding the photo close. He didn’t even bother to change out of his clothes, and soon he had fallen asleep, exhausted from the nights’ events. 

Cole woke up a while later for no apparent reason. He groaned and rolled over, reaching for his phone. He unlocked it and checked the time, 22:58, almost eleven. That meant Cole had only been asleep for a little over an hour. Thinking he’d take the chance to change into his pyjamas, Cole pushed himself up and out of his bed. 

However, he never got a chance to grab his sweatpants that he slept in from the floor. Instead, he found himself mesmerized by the sight outside his window. The moon shone bright in the sky, big and full. That wasn’t the strange part. The strange part was that it was bright red. 

Cole had heard about this, it was called a blood moon, a rare astronomical event that you would be lucky to see. But Cole had to admit, he thought it would be a much more dull shade of red, not the bright red color he was staring at right now. It didn't look like anything that could happen naturally. 

Without really thinking about it, Cole started moving. He wanted to see the moon more clearly, not just through his window. As if in a trance, he quickly moved downstairs, relieved when he didn’t see his father anywhere. He must have gone to bed. In his hurry to get outside and see the moon, Cole almost forgot to put on his shoes. Luckily, he remembered it just as he was about to open the front door. 

With his shoes on, Cole exited his home, his eyes immediately drawn to the sky. He hadn’t realized he was still walking, but a shiver of cold soon brought him back to his senses. He realized he was so far away that he couldn’t even see his own house anymore. When had that happened? And yet, he didn’t turn around, he didn’t even stop walking. He just headed farther and farther away until he reached the edge of the forest. 

Cole shivered again, but this time not from the cold. He had always found the forest to be a bit creepy, never wanting to venture too deep into the foliage. He told himself to turn around, to walk back home and get back in bed. But he soon found that he couldn’t, he had no control over what he was doing. With no choice left, and feeling both confused and alarmed, Cole kept moving wherever this invisible force wanted him to go. In his frenzied state, his mind was only able to come up with one coherent thought. 

_“I should have brought a jacket.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done! They're all being called by the bloodmoon... Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter. I might, but that is a very big maybe, be able to get a third chapter up today. We'll see. Also, starting tomorrow I might not have as much time to update. At the very least I doubt I'll have time for multiple chapters a day. I've got an ssignment for shool that I need to start tomorrow. But we'll see, I really enjoy writing this so far, so I might just power through it! Just wanted you guys to know in case there is a sudden decrease in how often I post new chapters. Also, I think the chapters are about to start getting a bit longer soon, so that could also mean I might not update as often. EIther way, thank you so much for reading, and also for leaving kudos and comments, they mean a lot to me and help keep me motivated! <3


	9. Lloyd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it! I finished anothe chapter today! So, here it is, I hope you guys enjoy it! If you have any questions or want to talk to me, you can do that over on my twitter: @Efagerhag

After the strange incident that had occurred earlier during the day, Lloyd was left feeling both shaken and confused and just overall strange. He was jumpy, as if something or someone was watching him, and he was almost tingling. Like there was something inside of him that just needed to get out.

Lloyd was afraid to say the least. He had completely forgotten about the incident with Morro, at least for now, in favour of thinking the strange events that followed after. Every once in a while, he would stop to look at himself in the mirror, or pick up his phone and open the camera. Everytime he did, he saw himself, much to his immense relief. 

That being said, there were more strange events in store for him before the day was over. 

Lloyd had been laying in bed, trying to make himself fall asleep. But no matter what he tried, he was just left feeling restless. Thoughts and anxieties were swirling around inside his head, making him unable to relax. It wasn’t the first time his anxiety left him unable to fall asleep. But something happened that night that had never happened before. 

Suddenly, without any warning, Lloyd rose from his bed. The strangest thing was that he hadn’t been intending to do so, it just happened. And then he started walking, first out of the room, then out of the apartment, and finally out of the building. And the worst part? He couldn’t stop. 

It was as if he was in a trance, or like someone had hypnotized him. Lloyd couldn’t control what he was doing, but he was somehow still aware of himself and his surroundings. His feet carried him onwards, efficiently and quietly. Whenever he saw someone in the streets, he told himself to call for help, but no sound left his mouth. 

At one point he had looked up, and found something strange. A blood red moon. It was big and full and ominous, as if it spoke of something dark and powerful yet to come. And yet, there was a strange beauty, a calm that it instilled in him. It didn’t take long for Lloyd to figure out that the moon was connected to everything strange that had happened. The moon was the reason he was moving towards somewhere unknown, and he suspected that it also had to do with his sudden invisibility that afternoon. 

Lloyd felt different than he had before, that feeling of something needing to get out had only grown. It felt alive, but not sentient. For the first time in forever, Lloyd himself felt strong, powerful. And it only frightened him. 

But he wasn’t the only thing that felt different from normal. As the mystical force made his legs move him forward throughout town, Lloyd could feel his surroundings like he never had before. The world around him felt alive, buzzing with energy. The wind was chilling as it traced out buildings, lampposts, stones, trees, people. It was almost dizzying. 

Soon, Lloyd found himself reaching the outskirts of town and grew worried for a different reason. Just how far was this mystical force ready to take him? Would it ever stop? Or would he just keep on walking until he couldn’t anymore. Until he collapsed and withered away. 

Lloyd shook his head, clearing it of those negative thoughts. They were his anxiety speaking, trying to come up with worst case scenarios. There was another part of him, the same part that was buzzing with energy, that was telling him there was a purpose to all of this. That there was somewhere he was meant to be, something or someone he was meant to find. And as terrifying as this was, Lloyd chose to cling to those thoughts, if only to distract from the anxiety-ridden ones. 

Soon, the city faded and Lloyd reached the edge of the forest that surrounded the town from three directions. Lloyd was no stranger to the forest, he liked to take walks there from time to time. He found it calming, like he could disconnect from the rest of society for an hour or so and let his mind rest. He quickly found that coming there at night was a completely different experience. It was more frightening than calming. 

Still, the mystical force carried him onwards. Lloyd was starting to get really cold. In his trance-like state, he had walked out in nothing but his pyjamas. No jacket, no shoes. The asphalt had been one thing, and Lloyd supposed he should find himself lucky that he hadn’t walked over any sharp rocks or broken pieces of glass. 

The forest floor was different from the streets of the city. Softer, but with sticks, pebbles, roots and loose leaves making it more textured and uneven. At some point he was fairly certain that he had stepped in mud, making his feet wet as well as dirty, cold and sore. He would have been more concerned about the state of his feet if not for his worries about whatever was going on. 

Soon, Lloyd noticed an opening up ahead, a place where the trees parted, letting the red-tinted moonlight in. Lloyd walked into the clearing and then, finally, he stopped walking. That being said, he still didn’t feel in control, the only thing he could do was turn his head and look around. 

He had never been to this part of the forest before. It was some sort of clearing, and it must have been used before, because in one corner there was a wooden gazebo. It was built on a platform, with three steps leading up to it. Lloyd thought it had been painted green, but it was a bit hard to tell in the dull red light. He could, however, tell that the paint was chipping off in multiple locations, that some of the tiles had started falling down, that parts of the railing was broken, and that there were loose leaves, sticks and other stuff littering it. It had clearly been abandoned for a few years. 

Apart from the gazebo, there was a bench that looked just as old, as well as a single lamp post that didn’t seem to be working. Lloyd could also see a path leading away, not the same one he had come from, but a bigger one that might have been a road when this place was still being used. Time had taken its toll on that as well though, leaving it mostly overgrown. 

That was when Lloyd heard something, the sound of twigs snapping and leaves rustling. Someone was coming his way. Or rather multiple someones. It quickly became clear that Lloyd wasn’t alone. 

The first person came from the north, a bigger boy with black hair and equally dark eyes. At least he’d had enough control to put on proper shoes before leaving. Next up, someone came from the south, in the direction of the small lake nearby, Lloyd presumed. Another boy, this one with hazel eyes and brown hair, styled to stand up, and easily dressed in the most appropriate clothing. Shoes, jeans, an actual jacket. Lloyd was jealous. 

Then, two more people stumbled in from the direction of the city. One was a girl with messy black hair and dark blue eyes, like the depths of the sea. She was wearing pyjamas, much like Lloyd, and a pair of brown slippers. Though Lloyd suspected they might not have been brown before she got here. Next to her was another boy, this one tall, pale and with light blonde hair and icy blue eyes. 

Finally, another boy came stumbling into the clearing from the north, same as the first boy who had arrived. This boy was dressed in sweatpants, a t-shirt and nothing else. His curly, auburn hair was messy and had a few leaves sticking out of it, as if he had walked right through a bush. His blue eyes were dull and his cheeks covered in freckles. 

All of the others who had arrived shared the same dazed expression, as if they weren’t fully present. Lloyd wondered for a second if his expression looked the same. 

Then Lloyd suddenly realized that he knew all of them, or at least knew of them. They all went to his school. The girl was Nya and she was in Lloyd’s grade. They had P.E. together, but no other classes. The others were all a year older. One of them, Lloyd was pretty sure was Nya’s older brother. He had seen the two talking on multiple occasions. Another one, Zane Lloyd made himself recall, was the top-scoring student in the school after last term's tests. Lloyd knew of Cole, the only openly gay guy at their school. And finally there was Jay, who tended to be quite loud, easily making himself known to those around him. 

The only one Lloyd had talked to though, was Nya. And their conversation only consisted of one word. “Here,” as Lloyd handed her a map from the P.E. teacher when they were doing orienteering once. 

Something strange was happening, and it involved all six of them. Lloyd looked around at all of them once more, trying to find a connection, and failing. Then, all of a sudden, whatever strange spell had overtaken him, and presumably the other five, let go of its hold on them. They could all move, and they were all freaking out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally they're all together. Maybe we can start getting some answers as to what is going on soon? To make things clear, while they all go to the same school and know of each other, the six ninja, with the exception of Kai and Nya, didn't actually know each other prior to this story. They're not friends, just people who know of each other since they go to the same school.   
> Either way, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I should be able to get at least one chapter up tomorrow, but like I said before, I have to start my school assignment, so I might not get these updates to you as quickly. But we'll see. Stay tuned anyway!  
> Thank you so much for reading! And thank you for leaving kudos and/or comments! <3


	10. Nya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys, here is the next chapter! I'm really excited about where this is going, so I hope you will like it too. I'm gonna try to write one more chapter today, but I still have some schoolwork to do, so we'll see. Anyway, enjoy this chapter! If you have any questions or want to talk to me, you can do that over on my twitter:@EFagerhag

The moment the trance-like force let go of her, Nya almost collapsed on the ground. From the moment it had first taken over her in her bedroom, up until just now, she had been trying to break free from it. She supposed that once it did let go, the force of her trying to break it made her stumble and fall.

“Nya!” She heard Kai yell, and next thing she knew, her brother was kneeling next to her, looking concerned. “Are you okay?” He asked, looking her over. 

Nya wasn’t okay. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, she wasn’t physically hurt anywhere, just extremely confused and a bit frightened. She could not understand what had just happened, why she hadn’t been able to control what she was doing. Another thing that scared her was that it wasn’t the first time she had seen the forest trail. It was the same as her dream last night. She shivered just at the thought. 

Kai must have seen it and taken it as her being cold, because he quickly removed his jacket and hung it over her shoulders. “Man, you must be freezing. Why are you out here in only your pyjamas?” He asked, voice laced with worry. 

Nya turned to him then, while also reaching up and grabbing a hold of the jacket Kai had given her. She hadn’t realized just how cold she actually was until the cold was replaced by the warmth and comfort her brother’s jacket granted her. “Same reason as why you are here, I suppose.” She answered, not knowing what else to say. 

Kai stiffened up, and it was only then that the Smith siblings started looking around them. The others were looking at them, most likely because they didn’t know what else to do in this situation. Kai and Nya stood up and returned their stares. 

The atmosphere was tense with confusion, fear, and a little bit of anticipation. No one said anything, probably because they were unsure of what to say. The first one to speak up was the boy that had been the last to arrive, the one with blue eyes and auburn curls. “O-okay, I’m just slightly freaking out over here. Can someone tell me WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!” He asked, yelling the last part so loud it made Nya cringe. 

The boy’s exclamation seemed to pull all of them out of their stupor. Jay, Nya reminded herself. His name was Jay, and Nya knew who he was, just like she knew who everyone else was. She had never spoken to any of them though, except for Kai, of course, and Lloyd once in class. But they lived in a small town and all went to the same school. They were bound to at least know OF one another. 

The bigger boy with black hair, Cole, was the next to speak up. “It… It was like I had no control over my own body. Something was calling for me, and I couldn’t resist, no matter how hard I tried.” He said, his voice shaking slightly, Nya guessed from fear. 

Nya recognized what Cole was saying, because it was exactly what she herself had experienced. And judging from the silence that followed, all the others had as well. 

“It’s the moon.” Lloyd said, making all of them turn to him. 

“What do you mean it’s the moon?!” Jay yelled, clearly still freaking out about all of this. Nya had to agree with him, what exactly did Lloyd mean. 

“Do you really think it’s a coincidence that all of this happened on the same night the moon turned unnaturally red? It has to be connected.” Lloyd argued. 

Nya frowned. “Yeah, but how would a moon turning red make us all walk into the middle of the forest as if in a trance?” She asked. 

Lloyd shook his head. “ I don’t know. But it’s connected, I can feel it. That’s no ordinary moon.” 

To Nya’s surprise, Kai was the next to speak up. Ever since he had finished checking on Nya, he had been tense and quiet, but it seemed he was ready to join the conversation. “Others couldn’t see it.” He stated. 

Nya turned to him. “What do you mean?” She asked in confusion. 

Kai sighed and ran a hand through his hair, a gesture Nya recognized as him being stressed and feeling like he was in over his head. “I was with Skylor when the clouds parted. But she couldn’t see it. To her, the moon was normal.” He said. 

Nya frowned. “You were with Skylor?” She asked, making Kai blush. 

“It was Shade’s party, of course she was going to be there.” He answered defensively. 

Nya raised an eyebrow at him, making Kai avert his gaze. “We were just talking. But that’s besides the point. The point is that she couldn’t see that the moon is red.” He said. 

“You were at a party on a monday?” This time it was the tall, blonde boy who spoke up, the one Nya recognized as Zane Julien, the inventor’s son. 

“Can we focus on what’s important here? Rather than what I was doing before all this?” Kai asked, clearly annoyed by the questions. 

“Well,” Cole started. “Based on what I know, what we just saw is called a blood moon. It’s an astronomical event, a type of lunar eclipse that makes the moon turn red. Though I don’t think it can actually control people like it did with us.” He explained. 

Zane nodded. “Cole is correct. A blood moon is not able to take control of a person and steer them towards a specific location. Either, this happened because of something else, or what we saw was no regular blood moon.” He said. 

Kai rolled his eyes. “Well duh! If it was a normal blood moon, others would have been able to see it too.” He said, and Nya had to agree with her brother. This was clearly not a normal blood moon. But that still didn’t answer the question of what was happening to them. 

“Uhm…” Cole spoke up again. “Am I the only one who has seen that moon before?” He asked, drawing everyone’s attention to himself. 

“What do you mean?” Asked Zane, his brows furrowed in confusion. 

“Well…” Cole started. “I’m pretty sure I saw that same moon in a dream just last night. Was that just me?” He asked. 

Nya’s eyes widened as she remembered her own dream from last night. She had been walking through the forest dressed in her pyjamas, following a blood moon. “No, it’s not just you.” She said, meeting Cole’s gaze. “I dreamt of it too. Last night.” 

Nya then turned to Kai. “You also said you’d had a dream this morning. Was it similar?” She asked. 

Kai shook his head though. “Sorry, I don’t remember.” He said. However, judging from his concerned expression, Nya wondered if there was something about his dream he wasn’t telling them. 

Then there was a laugh. They all turned to it and saw Jay. His mouth was turned up into a grin, but his eyes looked terrified. He was pointing at all of them. “Okay. Listen, I don’t care what you say about blood moons or dreams or whatever. Something was controlling us, but it’s not anymore, so I am just going to head home, and forget that all of this ever happened!” He announced. 

And just like he had said, Jay started walking away before anyone could say anything to stop him. Then, out of nowhere, he walked into some sort of invisible wall, which created a dome over their head. It was light blue and transparent, and looking closely, Nya could make out a stone circle on the ground, right where the walls of the dome connected to the ground. It was encapsulating the entire clearing. 

Jay, who had walked right into it, had fallen over from the force and was now laying on the ground. The others could only stare in shock. 

The first one to pull themselves out of their stupor was Zane who took a wary step forward. “Are you okay?” He asked, the question clearly aimed at Jay. 

Jay started pushing himself off the ground, but he wasn’t standing up, instead, he started floating in mid air. The air around them felt charged, as if there were electrical currents everywhere. Everyone stood still in shock, able to do nothing but stare at Jay’s floating form. 

Then, Jay’s head snapped up, but his eyes were no longer blue, they were white. The iris, the pupil, all of it a creamy white. Nya shuddered, it didn’t look natural. Everyone held their breath in anticipation, and Nya pressed herself against Kai, grabbing his hand to try and ground herself. She felt Kai return the grip. 

Just as suddenly as Jay’s head had snapped up, he soon inhaled a deep breath, and then he started talking in a distorted voice. It sounded like multiple people talking at once, Jay’s own voice only being one of them. “You are the Chosen Ones.” He got out, locking his gaze on each and every one of them at a time. 

“Your powers are awakening.” Jay added, before taking another deep breath. 

“Magic,” and a pause. “it exists in each and every one of you. It exists in your surroundings. Magic is everywhere.” He said. 

_‘Magic?’_ Nya was in shock, unable to process what was going on. 

Jay, or whatever had taken over him continued. “You can…” He started before inhaling again. “You can only trust each other. No one else. Not your friends, not your family, not the ones you love.” 

Another pause followed. “It can be… anyone.” Jay continued. 

_‘It?’_ What had Jay meant by It? It sounded like a warning, but a warning for what? 

Whatever thing was speaking through Jay wasn’t finished yet however. “This is the only place where you are safe. The school is a place of evil. There is a great darkness there.” 

“Wow, what a surprise.” Kai said sarcastically beside her. Nya elbowed her brother, now really wasn’t the time for sarcastic jokes. 

“Hide your powers!” Jay yelled out, much louder than anything else he had said. “Practice in secret!” He commanded. 

Again, Jay looked at them one at a time before repeating what he said at the start. “You are the Chosen Ones. You have to work together, or the entire world will fall into darkness!” He said. 

Nya gulped. She didn’t like the sound of that. 

“You are the Chosen Ones! Prepare yourselves!” Jay yelled. “You are the Chosen Ones! Prepare yourselves! You are the Chosen Ones! Prepare yourselves! You are the Chosen Ones! Prepare yourselves!” 

And then, just as quickly as it had started, it was over. Jay collapsed back onto the ground, the static in the air disappeared, and the light blue barrier surrounding the clearing faded away. 

Nya seemed to be the first one who managed to collect herself. She let go of her brother’s hand and rushed over to where Jay was laying on the ground, wanting to make sure that he was okay. She turned him around and rested his head on her lap just in time for him to open his eyes. Much to Nya’s relief, they were back to their old blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What does all of this mean? And what happened to Jay? Well, you'll just have to wait and see. I might see you guys again with another chapter later today, otherwise I'll have one up sometime tomorrow, well see! Anyway, thank you so much for reading, and also for leaving kudos and comments! They mean a lot to me <3


	11. Jay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go again, it's time for another chapter! I'm glad I managed to finish this today ^^ Anyway, I hope you will enjoy it, and if you have any questions or wanna talk to me, you contact me over on my twitter: @EFagerhag

Jay was slowly coming back to himself after what had just happened. He had no idea what exactly it was that had happened, but it was freaking him out. It had felt a little similar to how it felt when the moon, or whatever it was, was guiding him away from the trailer and to the clearing. Only this time it had been a hundred times stronger and had some sort of conscience. It had felt like multiple other people entering his mind, putting thoughts in his head that he’d had no other choice than to repeat.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the concerned gaze of the girl who had come to the clearing. Nya was her name, and while Jay had never spoken to her, he knew exactly who she was. He had seen her at school a few times, mostly alone, sometimes hanging out with her brother. 

Jay had never told anyone, but he thought she was the cutest girl he had ever seen. However, Jay had witnessed another guy asking her out once, and when Nya turned him down she really did not hold back at all. It had been both the coolest thing Jay had ever seen, yet also kind of terrifying. Because of that, and because he considered her to be completely out of his league, Jay had never dared talk to her, not to mention confess his crush. 

Now she was right there, her face so incredibly close, if it wasn’t for all the weird stuff happening, Jay might have blurted out something stupid. 

“Are you okay? Hello?” Nya asked, looking concerned. 

“Is he awake?” Someone else asked, Jay looked over to where the sound had come from but found both Cole and Zane there. 

“It appears so.” Zane answered. His voice was different from the last, which meant it had been Cole who asked. Jay turned back to Nya, who still looked worried. 

“Can you hear me?” She asked. “How are you feeling?” 

Jay, still feeling a bit out of it, and distracted by Nya’s pretty eyes, started smiling up at her. “Good now that you’re here.” He said. 

Nya looked a bit taken aback, a light pink dusting her cheeks. 

“Oh, good, if he’s flirting he’s probably not too badly hurt.” Cole commented. 

“Dude, that’s my sister! Get off!” Kai yelled. 

“Kai, lay off. It’s fine. Besides, now that we know he’s okay there’s no need for me to cradle him anymore.” She said. Then Jay felt his head shift until it landed on the cold, hard ground. Nya stood up and dusted herself off before joining her brother. 

Jay pouted. “How cold, don't leave for my sake.” He complained before things finally started to catch up with him. He shot straight up and got back on his feet. “Hang on just a minute! Okay? Okay? I’m not okay! I’m freaking out! What the hell just happened to me?!” He asked. 

“There it is.” Cole said. “Now he’s freaking out.” 

“Of course I’m freaking out! Why aren’t you freaking out?!” Jay yelled. “I just got fucking possessed! And did you guys hear what that thing was saying?! Or what I was saying? Ahhhh! This is so freaky!” He exclaimed while pacing back and forth through the clearing to try and get some energy out. 

“Believe me, we are all freaking out right now.” Cole said, trying to calm Jay down. 

“Yeah, we’re just not as vocal about it as you.” Kai added. 

Jay frowned. “Well excuse me for being loud! But I have a perfectly good reason for it! I just got freaking possessed!” 

Someone put their hand on Jay’s shoulder, startling him. When he turned around he saw Zane there. “Maybe you should sit down for a bit. It might help you calm down?” He suggested. 

Jay took a deep breath and nodded, before letting Zane lead the way over to the bench so that he could sit down. Once there, Jay put his elbows on his thighs and buried his face in his hands. 

“Magic…” Someone said, making Jay look up. They all stared at Lloyd, who now looked a bit self-conscious. 

Lloyd cleared his throat. “That is… Uhm, it’s what Jay said, or what that thing that possessed you said.” He started explaining himself. “It said we had magic, that magic was everywhere, and that our powers were awakening.” 

There was a snort off to the side, making Jay, and everyone else, turn around. It was Kai. “Okay, I get that all of this is weird as heck, but magic? Really?” He asked. 

“How else would you explain it then?” Nya asked her brother. 

“I-” Kai started, but he immediately faltered. Jay wasn’t surprised he couldn’t come up with anything. 

Kai sighed. “Look, I have no idea how to explain it, but there has to be some kind of logical explanation. Magic isn’t real.” He said. 

To Jay’s left, Zane perked up. “While I am inclined to believe that there is indeed some sort of logical explanation to all the irregularities that has occurred lately, I am finding it immensely difficult to come up with an alternative solution.” He said. 

Everyone was quiet, and Jay felt like it was up to him to break the silence. “Right. But let’s say, just for arguments’ sake, that magic does exist. That still isn’t nearly enough explanation for what is going on. What about the part where we’re ‘Chosen Ones’? Anyone know what that is all about? And about the school being a place of evil. What is out there that is supposedly evil?” He asked. 

Nobody spoke, because nobody had any answers. It was Lloyd who spoke next. “I have no idea. But…” He trailed off. 

“But what?” Jay asked. 

“But this, what happened here tonight, isn’t the only strange thing that happened.” Lloyd started. It looked to Jay like he was bracing himself to say something big. What came out next was just as shocking as everything else that had happened lately. 

“I think I turned invisible earlier today.” Lloyd admitted. 

Jay’s eyes widened in surprise, and he was certain he wasn’t the only one. “Invisible? As in, nobody could see you?” He asked. 

Lloyd nodded. “Yeah, although my mom was the only other person there. When I got home today, she called out to me again and again, as if she couldn’t hear me answering. She acted like she couldn’t see me, even if I was in the same room. And, when I checked in the mirror, I couldn’t see myself.” He explained. 

Jay’s mouth fell open in wonder. “No way… What the heck, that is so cool!” He exclaimed, making Lloyd frown. 

“Believe me, when it was happening it wasn’t cool in the least. Only scary.” He said. 

“Something strange happened to me earlier as well.” Zane soon admitted. 

“Really? What?” Jay asked curiously. 

Zane seemed to be considering what to say for a while, but soon told them all about it. “I was in the bathroom, and when I was washing my hands I looked up in the mirror. My face looked weird, sort of distorted. One side of my face was swollen, the other hollowed out, and both my mouth and brows were all lopsided. Also, my eyes changed color from blue, to a greenish brown, and then back to blue.” He described. 

“Okay, now that is freaky.” Nya commented. 

Jay frowned. “Nothing happened to me though.” He said. And then he remembered something. “Unless…” 

“Unless what?” Cole asked. 

“Unless you count that weird thing with the lights.” Jay said simply. 

“What weird thing with the lights?” Lloyd asked curiously. 

“They started flickering on and off. First it happened in the history classroom, and then out in the hallway. I felt these weird tingles in my arms and fingers, like electricity. Though no one else seemed affected by it.” Jay explained. “It’s not nearly as big or mysterious as what happened to you guys though.” He added, motioning to Lloyd and Zane. 

Cole frowned. “I don’t know about the classroom, because I wasn’t there. But I was there when the flickering happened out in the hallway. Right after the first class, right?” He asked and Jay nodded in confirmation. 

“I didn’t feel any weird electrical tingles.” Cole admitted then. 

Jay’s eyes widened. “So it really might have been me?” He asked in awe. 

“Or,” Kai started. “it was just the lights going on and off and you’re, like, sensitive to that kind of stuff. It doesn’t mean there’s magic.” He said. What a party pooper. 

“I take it nothing else weird happened to you then?” Cole asked. 

Kai turned flustered for a second before denying it. “Of course not!” He said. His flustered state made Jay believe that maybe he wasn’t telling them everything. However, it seemed Kai wasn’t the only one who hadn’t experienced anything magical before tonight. 

“I have to agree with Kai. Other than that dream I had last night, nothing weird or out of the ordinary happened to me all day.” Nya said. 

Cole nodded. “Me neither.” He said. 

“Well,” started Lloyd. “Jay, or that thing, said that our powers were awakening. Maybe yours are still in the process of doing that? I mean, there has to be a reason why we were all brought here.” He said. 

Kai sighed in exasperation. “Look, if you guys want to play Harry Potter and pretend that you’re wizards, I’m not going to stop you. But I want nothing to do with it.” He said. “Come on Nya, let’s go home.” Then he turned to walk away. 

“Wait, Kai, the barrier-” Nya tried, but when Kai crossed the stone circle that marked the edge of the clearing, nothing happened. 

“Hey! No fair! Why doesn’t it zap you like it did me?!” Jay asked. 

Kai shrugged. “It looked like it parted earlier. It would make sense for it to be gone.” He said before turning around again. “Nya, come on!” He said. 

Nya cast one last glance at everyone before she sighed and joined her brother. 

The remaining four watched the Smith siblings go. Shortly after they were gone, Zane pushed himself up and off the bench. “I should also get going. We still have school tomorrow, and I don’t want my dad to notice I’m missing.” He said, and then he left in the same direction as Kai and Nya. 

“I should also be getting back.” Cole said, rubbing the back of his head. Then he turned to Jay. “Hey, you live out by the junkyard, right?” He asked. 

Jay grew flustered, used to people teasing him about where he came from. It didn’t happen as often anymore, but it was still something he was sensitive about. “Yeah, what of it?” He snapped at Cole. 

The bigger boy only raised an eyebrow in question at Jay’s tone. “Well, I live in the same direction. And since everyone is heading home, I figured we could go together? I’m not that excited about trudging home through the forest on my own at night.” He said. 

Jay blushed at that. He shouldn’t have been so quick to assume. “Sure, I guess.” He said, hoping Cole hadn’t been offended. 

“Wait, but what are we going to do about all this?” Lloyd asked, seemingly still thinking about everything that had gone down. 

Jay shrugged. “I have no idea. But it’s late and I just wanna go to bed. We’ll just have to deal with it later.” He said. 

Cole nodded. “Yeah, sorry kid. But I think this is a problem for another day.” He said. 

Then Jay turned to follow Cole out of the clearing. He stopped at the edge of the stone circle for a second, earning an odd look from Cole. Jay braced himself and then stepped forward. No weird barrier. Huh, it really was gone. With that, they started the long walk back home. _‘Soft bed, here I come.’_ Jay thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters are starting to get a tiny bit longer. I actually prefer my chapters to be 2000-4000 words long, that's what I usually go for when I write. But I needed this story to get started, and so the introductory chapters were a bit shorter. Anyway, thank you so much for reading, I hope you liked this chapter. I'll be back fairly soon with the next. Also thank you to those of you who decides to leave kudos and comments! <3


	12. Zane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm here with a new update. I have to apologize though, this chapter might be a bit short, and not that much happens. I mostly wanted to get Zane's thoughts about the events of the last few chapters and thought this was the best way to do so. I still hope you will like it, and things should be picking up again starting with the next chapter! Anyway, if you have any questions or want to talk to me, you can find me over on twitter: @EFagerhag

Zane was suddenly very grateful that his father’s house was in a residential area close to the forest. It meant that after the odd events of that night, he wouldn’t have to walk for very long until he got back home. Normally, a walk like this would have been no problem. However, it was unpleasant to say the least when you were only wearing your pyjamas and a pair of socks. Speaking of his socks, there was no way he could salvage these after tonight. They would have to go straight in the trash.

Every now and again, Zane would turn his gaze up towards the sky, staring at the blood moon. It really was quite beautiful, albeit a bit unsettling. The knowledge that it most likely was no natural phenomena made it even more so. Zane shuddered at the thought before averting his gaze once more. 

Soon, Zane had reached his home. Carefully, he opened the front door and sneaked inside. He wasn’t used to sneaking around his father, there had never been any reason to, but he hoped this specific incident would remain unknown. He didn’t want his father to worry about him. Much to Zane’s relief, his Dr. Julien seemed to be sleeping. 

Zane threw away his ruined socks and made his way upstairs. He grabbed clean pyjamas and then ventured into the bathroom. Seeing as he was both cold and a bit dirty, though his feet had been the worst in that regard, he opted for a quick shower before he went back to bed. 

The shower did help warm him up, and soon Zane had crawled back into his bed. However, it soon became apparent that he would not be getting any decent sleep anytime soon. His mind was working nonstop, trying to process all the new information and to form a logical theory that could explain it all, or perhaps even fill in what he didn’t know. 

Zane sighed and sat up in his bed, then he reached over and grabbed his laptop. He needed to do something about his thoughts, or he never would be able to fall asleep. And so, he got to work. 

Zane started by just writing down everything he knew, the names of everyone who had come to the clearing tonight, what possible powers they had displayed so far, what he knew about the blood moon, and perhaps most importantly, what they still didn’t know for sure. In the end, it looked something like this: 

_Zane Julien (me) - face distortion?_

_Lloyd Montgomery - invisibility_

_Jay Walker - electricity disturbance?_

_Cole Brookstone - prophetic dream?_

_Nya Smith - prophetic dream?_

_Kai Smith - nothing (or so he claims)_

_Blood moon - an astronomical event, a type of lunar eclipse. Not normal (others can’t see it, e.g. Skylor Chen). The thing that controlled us? Alternatively connected to it._

_Magic - is it real? Can we wield it? What type of magic? Lloyd’s invisibility as an example, is this the magic powers that are awakening?_

_The Chosen Ones - seemingly a name for all six of us, as a group. Chosen for what? Why us?_

_“It” - Some sort of threat. What is It? Why is It dangerous? What does It want? Connected to the school? Jay (possessed) claimed evil in school, is that It?_

As he compiled it, Zane quickly realized that all they had was questions, that there was barely anything they knew for certain. He also knew that this was not something he could just let go, and neither could the others. Unless this all turned out to be some strange dream, they would have to deal with it sooner or later. 

Zane made a mental note to try and reach out to the other five tomorrow, to ask if they could meet in the clearing again. They needed to discuss what all of this could possibly mean. They had been told to practice their powers in secret, so maybe they could do that. That would also tell them if something akin to magic really existed, and if they could wield it. 

For now, however, there was not much he could do but prepare some research. And so, Zane opened up google, and quickly typed in , simple as that. Then he started reading and clicking himself onward. Soon, he found himself sinking deeper and deeper into the black hole that was google. 

Zane found a historical overview of magic, how it had been used in rituals, in medicinal and religious settings for millenia. The concept of “magic” was as old as human civilization itself, if not even older. However, whether or not there was something truly magical, or rather supernatural about it still remained to be seen. 

He of course also found references to different types of pop culture that utilized magic in some way, shape or form. Harry Potter being one of the most prominent, but he also found things such as Narnia, Lord of the Rings, some Marvel movies, and a whole lot of other franchises. 

Then there were the articles about the darker kinds of magic. He found information about occultism, about the witch hunts that had taken place in medieval times, about connections to the devil and all sorts of heretical theories. 

Of course, there were also advertisements, guides, and tips related to illusionists. Zane knew this wasn’t about real magic, only tricks of the eye. And so, he quickly discarded this particular branch of information. 

From all the sources he could find, it seemed magic was either seen as something used in medicine, in religious rituals, in the occult, as a form of entertainment, as a genre in media, or as a concept of the past. In other words, Zane didn’t find anything that seemed all that helpful. Still, it might be good to have created some sort of background in regards to the concept of magic. 

Zane looked over his notes, both those based on the night’s events and those about his research. Once he was happy with those he sighed and closed down his computer. Now that he had gotten his thoughts out in some way, as well as satiated his curiosity to some extent, he was actually feeling rather tired. 

Zane glanced over at the clock. It read 03:25. He had been at this for a little over three hours now, as he had gotten back home just past midnight. Zane yawned, put his computer away and then crawled back under the covers to try and get at least an hour or two of sleep before his alarm rang. He wasn’t satisfied, he still had questions, but he knew it was no use tackling them by himself. He would need help. So, tomorrow he would contact the others, try and plan a meeting, and then they could try and figure out what was going on once and for all. Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not that much happened, but I feel like doing research is a very Zane thing to do XD And I think the concept of magic in a historical setting is really cool, so I kinda wanted to include a mention of that. Despite this being a bit short, and not that much happening, I hope you were able to enjoy it. Now I have to go clean the bathroom, and then I have some reading to do for school, but I might have time to write another chapter afterwards. I kinda want to give you one more today after this chapter, but I'll see if I have the time. If you're lucky I might upload one more chapter today, otherwise I'll have it out sometime tomorrow! With that said, thank you for reading, and also for leaving kudos and comment! It makes me so happy to see that some people are enjoying this story! <3


	13. Nya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter done! i did it! A bit longer this time, but still not that much happening, sorry for that. :/ Things should be picking up real soon, so stay tuned! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this update either way. ^^ If you have any questions or want to talk to me, you can do that over on my twitter: @EFagerhag

When Nya woke up the next morning, it was to a sight she was normally only greeted to on weekends. Kai was standing in the kitchen , frying up some eggs and bacon. He was still wearing the same clothes as last night and his hair was a mess. He didn’t look like he had slept at all.

Nya stopped in the kitchen opening, looking at her brother as she waited for him to notice her. It took about a minute, and in that time he had emptied the contents of the frying pan on a plate. When Kai turned around, he startled at the sight of Nya, almost dropping the plate. Nya chuckled in return. 

“Oh my god, Nya! Don’t sneak up on me like that.” Kai said. 

“Sorry, sorry.” Nya said, still smiling endearingly at her brother’s flustered state. She then motioned at the plate in his hands. It was simple, but it smelled good and she was hungry. “Is all of that for you or can I have some?” She asked. 

Kai raised an eyebrow at her. “Of course you can, I made it for both of us. You always fix breakfast for me, so since I was up already I thought I’d do the same.” He explained with a shrug before taking a seat at the kitchen table. 

Nya smiled and joined Kai, who pushed some food over on her plate. As she took a closer look, she could see the dark bags under Kai’s eye, the slightly paler shade to his skin, his tousled hair and his rumpled clothes. Kai had tried to hide it, but Nya knew last night’s events bothered him a lot. 

“Have you slept at all tonight?” She asked in concern. 

Kai shrugged. “I crashed on the sofa for a few hours. It just felt like the safest option.” Kai explained. 

Nya sighed, from Kai’s explanation she had been able to guess what was left unsaid. He’d been intending to stand guard so that Nya didn’t wander off in the night again, or so that nothing came for them, just like they had been warned about. She didn’t point that out though. As long as he didn’t keep it up, Nya supposed it was fine. She’d just have to remember to make sure he went to bed properly tonight. 

The two siblings kept eating their breakfast in silence. There were a lot of things left unsaid, questions that needed to be answered. Nya wanted to talk about last night, but she could sense that Kai wasn’t in the mood and she’d rather not argue with him right now. All of it scared Nya, but she suspected Kai had been even more shaken by it. 

He tried not to show it, but Kai was protective, and whenever something threatening that he didn’t know how to deal with appeared, he would react like this. He’d become strangely withdrawn, almost lost, as he adamantly tried to come up with a solution on his own. Only, Nya was fairly sure this wasn’t anything he could deal with on his own. 

Just as Nya was gathering up the courage to bring up the subject of last night, Kai stood up and grabbed the now empty plates. Nya hadn’t even noticed that they had both finished breakfast. And with that, Nya immediately felt her resolve crumble apart. Instead she sighed and helped Kai clean up. 

“Did you prepare anything for Mrs. Grumbmiller?” Nya asked as they helped clean up. 

Kai frowned. “No, was I supposed to?” He asked. 

Nya rolled her eyes. “Well, you don’t HAVE to, but I normally make breakfast for all three of us. She gets grumpy otherwise.” She said. 

“Oh, right.” Kai answered and turned to the stove, clearly contemplating whether to make something for her or not. 

Nya chuckled and pushed him out of the way. “You already made breakfast, I can whip something up for her. Besides, you need to go get ready for school, or you’re going to make us both late.” She said. 

“You sure?” Kai asked. 

Nya nodded. “Yeah, go on. Besides, you look like shit.” She said, making Kai snort. 

“Oh please, I always look stunning. But I suppose I could look better.” Kai said with a wink. “Be right back.” He added as he headed off to the bathroom. 

Nya rolled her eyes at her brother’s antics and went back to fixing food for Mrs. Grumbmiller. A short while later, shorter than usual, Kai was back out dressed in fresh clothes and with perfectly styled hair. However, Nya could still see traces of bags under his eyes. She chose not to comment on it. 

Mrs. Grumbmiller came out of her bedroom almost at the same time, looking tired as usual. Nya handed her the breakfast she made and received an acknowledging hum in return. “You two haven’t left yet?” She asked, voice devoid of emotion. 

“We were just leaving.” Nya said, grabbing her bag and motioning for Kai to do the same. Kai picked up on it and grabbed his bag too. “See you tonight. Good luck at work.” Kai added to their adoptive mother, who waved them off. Then the two siblings were out of the door. 

They walked, still in silence. Every once in a while, Nya would glance up, as if the blood red moon would still be there. Obviously, it was not. At one point, they could see the edge of the forest in the distance. But this time there was no strange pull making her go there. Nya shivered at the memories. 

Just as they were about to reach the school, Nya felt Kai grab her shoulder, stopping her from entering the courtyard. He looked uncertain, almost afraid. It unsettled Nya, normally Kai would at least appear tough. When he so clearly looked unsure, it affected Nya too. “What is it?” She asked. 

“It’s just...” Kai started, glancing up at their school. Then he sighed. “Look, I know that we have no fucking idea what last night was. But they said the school was dangerous. Now, of course it could all be bullshit, but just in case it’s not I want you to be careful. Promise me. And come find me if anything happens.” He said. 

Nya smiled, glad that Kai at the very least wasn’t acting like last night hadn’t happened. She nodded. “I promise, but you have to do it too. I’ll come to you if something happens, but I want you to do the same. And let’s have lunch together, yeah? Just you and me?” She suggested. 

Kai smiled, clearly relieved, and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good.” He said. 

Satisfied, Nya followed her brother onto the schoolyard. They split up, both heading to their respective lockers and classes. Nya couldn’t help but to be on edge. Of course Kai wasn’t the only one who had been unnerved by last night’s warning. Perhaps that was why she almost dropped her books when someone called out her name. That and the fact that she didn't talk to that many people apart from Kai usually. 

“Nya!” 

Nya spun around, rearranging her grip on her books so that they wouldn’t fall. Further down the hallway, Nya saw Jay heading her way, a light blush and a goofy smile on his face. Nya relaxed a fraction, but she didn’t know him well enough to fully let her guard down. 

“What’s up?” Nya asked as Jay reached her, looking quite nervous. 

“Hoo boy! I’m really glad I found you! Not that I was looking for you in particular, or I guess I was, but that’s beside the point. I wanted to talk to you! Or Zane asked me to talk to you if I saw you. Not that I wouldn’t have wanted to otherwise, I just- Uhm…” Jay rambled, clearly flustered. Nya found it strangely endearing. Not that Jay needed to know that. 

“Maybe you should take a deep breath and then continue? You’ve got an entire…” Nya started before checking her clock. “Four minutes to talk before I have to go to class.” She finished. 

Jay blushed and nodded before doing what she said, taking three deep breaths. “Right.” He said soon. “I guess I had two things I wanted to talk to you about.” Jay then announced. 

Nya nodded. “Go on.” She said, encouraging him to continue. 

“Well, I guess I wanted to say thank you. For your help last night.” Jay said. He then cleared his throat and averted his gaze. “I mean, for checking up on me after I fell and all that. Just… Uh… Thanks.” He said. 

Nya shrugged. “No problem.” She said, keeping it short. “And the second thing?” She asked. 

Jay nodded. “Right. The second thing is why Zane wanted me to try and find you. He found both Cole and I a few minutes ago and asked us to pass on the message if we found either of you. He thinks we should have another meeting this afternoon, to discuss what happened last night.” He explained. 

Nya nodded thoughtfully. “I suppose that makes sense…” She agreed. 

“Exactly!” Jay exclaimed. “He suggested we meet at the same clearing in the forest at four, then everyone should be finished with classes. Is that cool for you?” He then asked. 

“Yeah, that should work.” Nya said. 

“Great!” Jay burst out. “Oh, also, could you perhaps tell your brother? Since, well, he’s your brother.” He added. 

Nya nodded again. “I’ll tell him, but I can’t promise he’ll be there. He can be a bit stubborn when he wants to, and he didn’t exactly seem excited last night. But yeah, I’ll bring him the message at least. And I will be there either way.” She said. 

Jay smiled and rubbed the back of his head. “Okay, cool.” He said. 

After that, there was nothing left to say. However, for some reason none of them moved away. Instead, they both just stood there in awkward silence until the bell rang a moment later. 

“Right, I guess that’s my cue.” Jay said sheepishly. 

“Yeah, I need to get to class.” Nya agreed. 

“Okay, well, see you later I guess.” Jay said and then he left, only to turn around only a few steps later. “Bye!” He said then, before he kept walking. Then Jay turned around again and waved. And when he turned around a third time, Nya rolled her eyes and called out to him “Goodbye Jay!” And then he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was that! I'll be back with at least one more chapter tomorrow, so look forward to that! Thank you so much for reading, I hope you liked this chapter. And an extra thank you to those of you who leaves kudoas and comments, they mean so much to me! <3


	14. Kai

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys, I'm back with another chapter for y'all! Hopefully you'll like it ^^ If you have any questions or want to talk or something, you can find ome over at my twitter: @EFagerhag

Kai had never felt so jumpy in school before. He felt like there were dangers all around him, and his internal alarm was going off seemingly nonstop. Well, maybe they weren’t exactly dangers, but rather things he wanted to avoid.

On one hand he didn’t want to deal with Skylor and his other “friends”. Skylor especially, she had been trying to talk to him, probably about last night, and Kai would rather avoid it. Then there were the others from the clearing last night. Kai had almost run into both Zane and Cole at different times, though only Cole had seen him in return. When Kai noticed him coming his way he had immediately turned around and fled. He wasn’t sure what they wanted, but he wanted no part in it. 

And finally, there was the possible unknown threat. Kai didn’t know what to think of last night, and he was reluctant to believe any of it. But the possibility of there being something dangerous in school stuck with him. It wasn’t all about himself, though that was part of it, he was most afraid for Nya. 

Since their parents died in a car crash when they were both very young, Kai had sort of had to take up the role of his sister’s guardian. Sure, there was Mrs. Grumbmiller, but she cared about little more than making sure they stayed alive and fairly healthy, had a place to live, and got at least a basic education. 

Now that there was a possible new threat, Kai’s big brother instincts set in, making him extra vigilant for anything possibly threatening. It wasn’t the best in regards to his own mental health, but if it meant keeping Nya safe, he’d just have to deal with it. 

Speaking of Nya, he was supposed to meet her for lunch, so when the bell rang, signaling the end of morning classes, Kai headed over to her locker to wait. He didn’t have to wait long for her to show up, and then they were headed for the cafeteria. 

Once they got there, the two siblings claimed a small table in the corner. Kai couldn’t help but notice that they were being watched. He turned his head to the side and saw Skylor, sitting at her usual table with the rest of her friends. There was an empty chair next to her, most likely where Kai was meant to sit. Though apart from Skylor, none of the others seemed affected by his absence. Kai tried to ignore her, but it was increasingly harder to do, and he started to realize that sooner or later he would have to talk to her. 

“-ai? Kai!” Nya called out to him, making him turn around so fast he almost fell off his chair. 

Kai righted himself, cleared his throat and looked up at his sister. “Sorry, what did you say?” He asked. 

Nya sighed. “You didn’t hear anything I just said, did you?” She asked, looking tired. 

Kai smiled sheepishly and shrugged apologetically. “Can you maybe repeat what you said?” He then suggested. 

Nya rolled her eyes but complied. “I said that Jay came looking for me earlier.” She announced. 

That made Kai stiffen up. While a lot of other things must have been going through Jay’s mind last night, there had been a moment when he had looked at Nya, and Kai had recognized the look. It wasn’t the first time anyone showed an interest in his sister, and Kai knew that Nya could deal with it herself, but that didn’t stop him from being on edge. 

“Oh yeah?” Kai asked after a while when Nya didn’t elaborate. “What did he want?” 

“Well, apparently he’d been talking to Zane and Cole.” Nya started. “They want all of us to come to the clearing in the forest again, to discuss what happened last night. Jay wanted me to tell you about it. They want to try and figure out what is going on together.” She explained. 

Kai frowned. “No.” He answered, simple as that. He didn’t want anything more to do with the others, save for Nya of course. He just wanted things to be simple, and magic was not. Kai had enough to deal with without adding any supernatural elements to his life. 

“Come on Kai!” Nya said. “I know that what happened last night was weird, but we can’t just pretend like it didn’t happen! Something is going on, and I can see that it worries you! I think we should go see the others.” She argued. 

Kai sighed. “No, Nya, I’m not going. And I don’t think you should either. I won’t stop you if you really want to, of course, but I think we should keep our distance.” He said. 

“And what if we can’t?” Nya asked adamantly. “What if something dangerous really is out there, and it will come for us whether we want it to or not? Maybe working together with the other guys is our best bet!” She said. 

“No!” Kai yelled, attracting the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. With a sigh, Kai leaned forward to whisper to Nya. “Look, you can go if you really think it’s what you want, but I want nothing to do with the others, or with magic or whatever it is. So just leave me out of it.” He said, then he stood up and left the cafeteria, the other students staring after him as he left. 

Kai went through the rest of the day as he had that morning, avoiding anything and anyone who tried to get close. He knew he was the one distancing himself from everyone, Skylor and her friends, the other guys from the clearing, now even Nya. But despite all this, he couldn’t help but feel lonelier than ever. 

Soon, school was over and Kai wanted nothing more than to just go back home and forget about the mess that was his life at the moment. He walked over to his locker and was surprised to find himself alone in the hallway. He didn’t think much of it as he opened his locker and started gathering his things. 

As he closed his locker, the sound of it slamming shut rang in his ears, and a headache started to form. 

_“Kai…”_

Suddenly there was a voice inside his head. Kai didn’t recognize it, he couldn’t even tell if it belonged to a man or a woman, an adult or a child. The voice changed, one moment it sounded like one thing, the next like another. 

_“Kai Smith…”_

The voice called out again, the headache making it echo inside his own head. On the floor around him, black smoke started to form. Kai couldn’t tell where it was coming from, but the sight of it deeply unsettled him. To try and block it out, Kai closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the locker, hoping the cool surface would ground him. It didn’t work. 

_“Kai…”_

The strange voice kept calling out to him. 

_“Kai…”_

_“Kai…”_

“Kai?” 

Suddenly the voice wasn’t coming from inside his head anymore, it didn’t sound distorted or wrong. It was clear, without echo, and Kai recognized it. He opened his eyes and immediately came back to reality, his headache fading away almost completely as he turned around to see who had called him out of his trance. 

It was Skylor. 

“Is everything okay?” She asked in concern. 

Kai blinked a few times, trying to come back to himself. Then he looked around, there were a few people around him, but none of them were paying any attention to him. Then he turned back to Skylor. “Uhm, yeah, I’m fine. It’s nothing. What’s up?” He asked. 

Skylor frowned. “Are you sure? You looked like you were in pain just now. Do you need to go to the nurse or something? I could come with you.” She offered. 

Kai shook his head. “No, no, it’s okay. I have a small headache, but I’ll just go home and sleep it off.” He said. 

Skylor still looked concerned, but she seemed to let it go for now. “Okay, if you’re sure.” She said. “But before you leave, I wanted to ask you something.” She added. 

Kai sighed, he knew this had been coming, but he really wasn’t in the mood for it. After what had just happened, he wanted nothing more than to get out of the school. Still, he figured he might as well take care of this now. “What is it?” He asked, signalling for her to go on. 

“Well,” started Skylor. “It’s about last night. Why did you leave so suddenly? And what was that about a red moon?” She asked. 

Kai averted his gaze. He couldn’t tell her the truth, whatever the truth was. He’d just have to come up with an excuse and hope she would leave it at that. “Look, I was drunk last night, I said some weird shit, and then I headed home. It’s not a big deal. Sorry if I scared you, I didn’t mean to do that. I was just a bit out of it, really.” He said. 

Skylor frowned. “Really? Because last night you said you hadn’t been drinking since the welcoming drink, and you wouldn’t get drunk off of that alone.” She said. 

Kai sighed. “Well, I lied. I had more to drink, I just didn’t tell you.” He said. It was a lie, and he had a feeling Skylor knew it. She had seen him drunk once or twice before, and last night he clearly hadn’t been drunk. Still, he wasn’t sure what else to say. 

“Okay…” Skylor said, not sounding convinced. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. You’ve been acting really strange lately. If anything is going on that you need to get off your chest, you know you can come to me, right?” She asked. 

Kai forced a smile on his face and nodded. “Right, will do.” He said, not that he actually planned to come clean to Skylor about everything going on in his life, but if saying he would got him out of this conversation, he would do it. “Look, Skylor, I appreciate that you care, I really do. But I really just want to go home and sleep this headache off if that’s okay?” He said. 

Skylor looked a bit disappointed, but soon nodded in acceptance anyway. Kai waved goodbye to her, grabbed his bag and then he left. Stepping out of the school was like taking a breath of fresh air. He hadn’t realized how suffocated he had felt all day. 

For a moment, Kai thought back to the strange voice and the black smoke, and immediately he was reminded of the warning he received the other day. But no, that was impossible, none of that was real. He was just tired and confused. Once he slept all this stress off, things would start going back to normal. He was sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was that! I'll probably have time to post another chapter later today, but no promises. Anyway, thank you for reading, I hope you liked it, and I'll see you again soon with the next chapter! And thank you to everyone who leaves kudos and/or comments, they really mean a lot! <3


	15. Jay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I'm here with another chapter! I hope you guys like it! If you have any questions or want to talk to me, you can find me on twitter: @EFagerhag

Jay was buzzing with nervous energy as he paced around the gazebo in the clearing. It was raining outside, and he was suddenly really grateful that the old gazebo still stood there. It served him well as he waited for the others to arrive.

Jay knew he had been early, they had decided to meet in the clearing at four, but his school finished an entire hour before then. It was no use heading home, as he would have to leave again the moment he got there, and Jay was too impatient to wait around the school. Also, ever since receiving the warning about the school being a place of evil, he’d rather spend as little time as possible there. 

Jay had begun to process what was going on, however, he still didn’t understand it. There was a lot he still didn’t know, and he suspected the others were none the wiser. However, what he did know both scared and excited him. Like him having magic powers? How cool is that?! Jay couldn’t wait to learn more about that aspect of all this. That being said, he was less excited and more nervous about the whole saving the world part, or the part where there was something evil after them. The very thought made him shudder. 

Suddenly Jay heard the sound of twigs breaking and spun around, only to see Cole and Zane running towards him. They didn’t look alarmed, which calmed him down a bit, even though the possibility of them running from something sinister crossed his mind. It soon became evident that the only thing they were running from was the rain. They must have gotten caught up in it on the way here, since the downpour only started about fifteen minutes ago. 

Once they made their way under the gazebo’s roof, Cole was quick to shake off the worst of the water. Jay couldn’t help making the comparison between him and a wet dog. “Hey, watch it!” Jay exclaimed as some of it got on him. 

Cole only grinned sheepishly. “Sorry.” He said, though he didn’t sound particularly sincere. Cole then looked up at the sky and frowned. “I hope this rain stops by the time we finish here, there’s quite a long way home and I’m already drenched.” He said with a frown. 

“I have to say, it caught me off guard. It wasn’t supposed to rain today.” Zane commented, wringing some water out of the bottom of his shirt. 

Jay shrugged. “After all the weird shit that’s been happening recently, some unexpected rain feels like a blessing of normalcy.” He said. 

Cole grunted, but still agreed. After a while, so did Zane. Meanwhile, Jay looked at the clock. It was now 15:59, meaning it was almost time. 

“So, do we know if the others are coming?” Cole then asked, seemingly reading Jay’s mind. 

“Well, I talked to Nya earlier.” Jay mentioned casually. Or at least he hoped he sounded casual. 

Cole raised an eyebrow in question. “And? What did she say?” He asked. 

“She said,” Jay started. “that she would be here, and that she would tell her brother. Though she wasn’t sure if he was going to agree to it.” He explained. 

Zane frowned and nodded. “I do hope she managed to convince him. I think the more of us stand together, the bigger our chances are to figure out what is going on. And with Lloyd not coming-” He started. 

“Lloyd isn’t coming either?” Someone soon asked, only it wasn’t any of them. It was a girl. 

Jay spun around, as did Cole and Zane. There stood Nya, holding a wine red umbrella above her head to shield from the rain. 

Jay’s shoulders slumped and he heard Zane sigh beside him. “I take it that means you weren’t able to convince your brother to come?” He asked. 

Nya shrugged as she joined them in the gazebo, folding her umbrella shut and putting it on the ground. Her black hair was swept up into a ponytail, just as it had before, but now it had gotten a bit messy, most likely from her walk in this weather. Jay thought she was beautiful either way. 

“Don’t hold it against him, he’s not dealing with all of this very well. Just give him some time to process it all and he’ll most likely come around.” Nya said. “Kai doesn’t do very good with change. He’s also fiercely protective and hates when something happens that is out of his control. He is stubborn and very bad at accepting help from others.” She kept explaining. 

Zane frowned. “Why? This is clearly not something any one person should be doing alone. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness.” He said, matter-of-factly. Jay felt a bit envious of how sure he seemed in himself in order to say something like that so simple. 

Nya gave them all a sad smile. “Well, it’s how he’s always been. We lost our parents when I was four and Kai five. He’s been taking care of me all our lives, working hard so that I could have as normal of a childhood as possible. He wouldn’t even let me help with chores until a few years ago. He’s convinced he can solve every problem on his own because he hates feeling like a burden, I think.” Nya explained. 

Jay’s eyes widened. He didn’t know much about Nya and her brother outside of school, since he had never talked to either of them before last night. But he’d had some sort of fear-mixed awe at them ever since they entered the same high school. They seemed so tough. He became a bit sad to learn about what they had gone through in the past, but he made himself remember that him being upset for them wouldn’t do anyone any good. 

Jay must not have been the only one who felt bad for the Smith siblings though, as Nya soon raised an eyebrow in question at all three of them, then sighed. “Look, I didn’t tell you so that you could pity me and my brother, I did it so that you’d understand Kai might need some time before he’ll join us here. I’ll keep talking to him, and if I know him, it won’t be that long before he gives in. He’s stubborn but not stupid. He’ll come around. I just need you guys to understand and be patient with him.” She said. 

Jay told himself he should say something understanding. Surely that would help get into Nya’s good books. However, it seems Cole beat him to it, laying a hand on her shoulder and offering her a smile, not a sad one or one with pity, but a true smile. “Don’t worry about it.” He said. “We all know this is a strange and overwhelming situation. He should take whatever time he needs. We’ll be here when he’s ready.” He said. 

Jay pouted internally, that had been a really cool speech! If it wasn’t public knowledge that Cole was gay and thus not interested in Nya in that way, Jay probably would have been jealous. 

“Thank you.” Nya said, smiling up at Cole. Jay wanted that smile directed at him. 

Off to the side, Zane cleared his throat. “Well then, we’ll leave Kai to you, Nya. The rest of us should worry about getting in contact with Lloyd. The reason he’s not here is because I couldn’t reach him, so he simply doesn’t know. He wasn’t at school today, and no one would give me his number. Do either of you know where he lives?” He asked. 

Jay shook his head, Lloyd was the one person who had come here last night he knew the least about. He had seen him around school and knew his name was Lloyd and that he was a first year, but that was about it. He didn’t even know Lloyd’s surname until he had asked Cole as they walked home last night. 

“Well,” Nya started. “I don’t know where he lives, but we have P.E. together. If he shows up in class I’ll tell him. I could also ask around in my grade, surely someone knows where he lives.” She said. 

Zane nodded. “That would be good, thank you. Maybe the four of us should exchange phone numbers? So that we can reach each other more easily from here on out.” He suggested. 

Jay immediately perked up at that. “I think that’s a great idea! Nya, what’s your number?” He asked. 

Nya narrowed her eyes at him. “Only because we need a more efficient way to keep in touch.” She said, making Jay blush. 

They all exchanged numbers and then Jay felt someone nudge him. It was Cole. “Dude, maybe now’s not the time to be flirting?” He said. Though he sounded more amused than anything. Jay huffed and didn’t grace Cole with more of an answer to that question. 

“With that out of the way,” Zane started. “Maybe we should get started with the actual point of this meeting?” He suggested. 

After that, Zane presented them with all the research he had done the previous night. Jay was mostly glad to see a summary of all they knew, and questions around the things they needed to figure out. All of the research about the concept of magic according to google was interesting, sure, but it didn’t feel like it gave them much of anything. 

“This is impressive, Zane! You did all of this by yourself?” Nya asked, looking through his notes more closely. 

Zane shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal. When I got home last night, my mind wouldn’t shut off, so I needed to get it out of me. Doing this research helped.” He explained. 

“Well, it helps us too. Thanks man.” Cole complimented. 

Zane nodded. “There is one more thing I’d like to share with you. This morning, it happened again.” He said seriously. 

It took Jay a moment to realize what Zane was talking about, but then it sunk in. “Your face got all weird in the mirror again?” He asked, and Zane nodded in reply. 

“Yes. Though this time I willed it to happen. I can make it start, and I can control when to stop it, but I can’t control what changes, or to what degree it does. Like, I can’t control whether it’s the color of my eyes or my hair, the shape of my nose, the fullness of my cheeks or the arch of my brows. And so far, there are only small changes. But I am certain that I am the one doing it to myself, not some other outside force.” He explained. 

Jay and the others took some time to take all of this in. “So,” Nya started, gaining all of their attention. “You might have some sort of shapeshifting powers? But right now you can only change small things, and you also aren’t able to control which part specifically starts to change, or how?” She asked. 

Zane nodded. “That sums it up in an accurate way.” He said. 

It was then that Jay figured it was his time to shine. “Oh! I also have an update about potential magic powers!” He exclaimed, making them all turn to him in question. 

“So,” Jay started. “Remember how I told you about the lamps flickering?” He asked and they all nodded. Jay kept going. “Well, I figured that might mean my powers had to do with electricity. Makes sense, right? So I grabbed an old lightbulb from the junkyard. Now, check this out!” Jay said as he started digging through his bag, pulling out the same lightbulb he had just talked about. 

“It’s old but it still works. However, since it’s not connected to a power source at the moment, it shouldn’t be able to light up.” Jay started to explain. Then he held onto the bottom of the lightbulb with both his hands and concentrated hard. And then, for just a second, the lightbulb lit up. 

“There!” Jay exclaimed. “It only happened for, like, a second, but it lit up! I made it light up!” He said excitedly. 

Nya gave him a lopsided grin. “Okay, that is pretty cool.” She admitted. 

Cole and Zane also nodded. “So, your power most likely has to do with electricity then.” Zane stated. 

“Seems like it.” Jay agreed with a smile before he turned to Nya and Cole. “What about you two? Have you noticed anything strange since last night?” He asked. 

Cole was first to answer. “Nope, nothing.” He said. 

Nya shook her head. “Same here.” 

“What about your brother? Do you think he has noticed anything strange?” Zane asked, directing the question at Nya, who only shrugged in reply. 

“Honestly? I have no idea. But even if he had, he probably won’t even admit it to himself, much less to me.” She answered. 

Zane nodded and then left the subject of Kai’s potential powers. They spent some time discussing Lloyd’s invisibility, but without Lloyd there it was a bit difficult to really get into it. They soon reached the conclusion that there wasn’t much else they could do until the other two joined them. And so, they decided to keep in touch via sms, but to be careful and not interact too much in school. Just to be safe. 

When they all left to go their own way, Jay offered to walk Nya home. But she quickly turned him down saying it would be a huge detour for him to do so. Plus, Zane would be headed in the same direction as her, at least until they got out of the forest. The rain had gotten a bit better, but as it hadn’t fully let up yet, Jay had to agree that he should probably head back home as quickly as possible. 

And so they left, Nya and Zane heading back towards the city while Jay and Cole headed north to the fields and the junkyard outside of town. There was still a lot left unknown, but Jay had to admit that it felt right discussing the situation with the others. He was glad he had them, all of them, and he hoped they’d get Lloyd and Kai to join them soon. They would need all of them if they were to ever figure out what was going on

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter done! Some of them are starting to come together, which is exciting! I really like writing the groups' interractions! Anyway, I'll be back with another chapter tomorrrow! Don't know if I'll have time to post 2 chapters then, but I'll make enough time to write one so I can publish it! With that said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to more! Thank you for reading, as well as for leaving kudos and comments! <3


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